Sea air is good for your health, according to a scientific study

Frequent exposure to sea spray aerosols can stimulate the immune system, according to a study carried out by the Flemish Maritime Institute.

It is now scientifically proven: sea air is good for your health. Water droplets projected by the wind stimulate our immune defenses. This beneficial effect was demonstrated from samples taken a few meters from the waves and from the Ostend laboratory where this research is carried out, on the Belgian coast, the Flemish Institute for Zee (VLIZ). According to the photo associated with the scientific publication in the journal Science of The Total Environment, the sea spray aerosol sensor was placed at eye level, on a quay just above the beach. Then the collected micro-droplets were placed in contact with human cells for 24 hours. Result: several very interesting immune responses

Because sea air does not mean pure air: if our natural defenses react, it is because they have been in contact with bacteria. This acts as a kind of vaccination, an immunity training. Everything is based on this presence of several bacteria, but in low doses, as explained by Professor Jana Asselman of the University of Ghent. She heads the laboratory where this interaction has just been deciphered. Their analyzes show more precisely that the samples also contain endotoxins, kinds of “pieces of bacteria”, according to the educational translation of this specialist. And it is this cocktail which would create a gentle stimulation of two key families of our immune defenses, those which respond in the event of an unknown attack and those which memorize an enemy to eliminate it more quickly if it returns.

For Professor Asselman, this creates better responsiveness in the event of infection and this would explain why in Italy, for example, there have been fewer cases of Covid on the coasts. And this also explains other epidemiological studies on better health by the sea.

The final objective of Professor Asselman, whose specialty is marine biotechnology, is to evaluate the benefit of making sea air sprays to stimulate our immunity. With his teams, they must first identify exactly which beneficial bacteria are and how they act. Their next study will use cotton swabs from Covid tests to examine the bacterial flora in the noses of residents and vacationers by the sea and compare it with those of city dwellers at 100%. But be careful, specifies the researcher, for sea air to be good for our health, the sea must be preserved.