Association between microplastics exposure and depressive symptoms in college students

Microplastics (MP) are pervasive environmental pollutants that have raised concerns regarding their potential health effects. However, limited studies have investigated the relationship between MP exposure and depression, particularly in college students. Our study aims to examine the association between MP exposure and depressive symptoms in college students.

A total of 1420 college students from Jiangsu College of Nursing, China, were included in this cross-sectional study. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), and MP exposure was estimated based on daily airborne MP concentration and drinking-water MP levels. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the associations between MP exposure and depressive symptoms.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms among college students was 61.8 %. The median (interquartile range) of total MP exposure was 17403.7 (14174.8-20995.9) particles/day. Airborne MP exposure exhibited positive associations with depressive symptoms, while no significant association was found between drinking-water MP exposure and depressive symptoms. Compared with participants in the lowest quartile of MP exposure, those in the highest quartile of total MP exposure had 38 % higher odds of experiencing depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 1.38, 95 % CI: 1.21-1.57). When treated as a continuous variable, each 1000-particle increase in total MP exposure was associated with a 7.0 % increase in the odds of depressive symptoms (OR = 1.07, 95 % CI: 1.04-1.10). Stratified analyses indicated that the association between MP exposure and depressive symptoms was stronger among male students and freshmen.

This study suggests MP exposure is a contributing factor for depressive symptoms in college students.