Comparative response over time to surfactant-polluted sea aerosol in Mediterranean pine seedlings.

Seedlings of three Mediterranean pines were exposed to five spray treatments with sea water including an anionic surfactant, 5 to 500 mg/l dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate. By comparing the response (visible injury, needle content of chloride or water, damage to stomata) at the end of the treatments with the response at 60 days after the last spraying, we aimed at investigating the recovery over time. Conversely, the phytotoxic effect of surfactant-polluted sea aerosol became more severe as time passed, even if no further exposure occurred. All the three pine species were sensitive to surfactant (P. pinea > P. halepensis > P. pinaster), suggesting that coastal pinewoods are an ecosystem at risk for this type of pollution.