Indoor use of consumer chemical products and its link to depression and anxiety among college students in 297 chinese cities

• 65.5 % of college students reported regular usage (≥1 time/per week) of consumer chemical products. • Regular usage of consumer chemical products is linked to an increased risk of depression and anxiety. • Males are more susceptible to product-related depression and anxiety than females. • The presence of anxiety or depression amplifies product-related depression or anxiety risk. Indoor environmental quality is compromised by the excessive usage of consumer chemical products. People are always unconsciously under the potential threat brought by exposure to these products. Limited knowledge exists regarding the association between the use of consumer chemical products and depression and anxiety among college students. We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study in China, recruiting 15,561 college students from November 2023 to April 2024. We assessed last-month exposure to seven consumer chemical products: new carpet, air freshener, perfume, household insecticide, mosquito coil, electric mosquito repellent , and paper receipts. Depression and anxiety symptoms were identified using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7. Adjusted logistic regression models explored the odds ratios (OR) associated with each product for both depression and anxiety. Results indicated that 65.5 % ( N = 10,192) of participants reported regular exposure to at least one of these seven consumer chemical products. Regular exposure was associated with an increased OR for depression, ranging from 1.37 to 3.40, and for anxiety, ranging from 1.48 to 3.88. The stratified analysis revealed higher product-associated ORs for depression (38 % – 131 % higher) and anxiety (30 % – 134 % higher) in males. Furthermore, product-associated ORs for depression were 34 % – 75 % higher in individuals with anxiety, while those for anxiety were 33 % – 88 % higher in individuals with depression. These findings suggest that reducing the frequency of indoor exposure to consumer chemical products could be beneficial for promoting mental health among college students.