Self-reported environmental toxin exposure, awareness and preventive behavior among a university population in Kuwait: a cross-sectional study.

Exposure to environmental toxins is a critical concern that poses significant risks to human health and well-being. The detrimental effects of environmental degradation are linked to human health, as the consequences of water and air pollution have become apparent in the food we consume regularly. This study uses a cross-sectional quantitative survey design to evaluate self-reported environmental toxin exposure, awareness, and preventive behaviors among participants at Sabah Al-Salem University campus, Kuwait University. Data were collected across three domains (food and water, home and work environments, and lifestyle-related activities) from a total of 1,110 participants. All domains had acceptable to good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.71-0.79). A predetermined scoring framework was used to categorize self-reported exposure and knowledge levels, and Chi-square tests with Cramer's V effect sizes were used to evaluate differences across sociodemographic Characteristics. To find independent determinants of moderate-to-high self-reported perceived exposure, binary logistic regression models were also built. The levels of overall self-reported perceived exposure were particularly high in the food and water domain, with 15.7% of individuals categorized as having high perceived exposure, in contrast to only 4.7 and 6.0% in the other domains. Participants showed the highest awareness of toxin perceived exposure from work and home environments (38.5%) compared to other domains. The study shows that a Kuwaiti university population had moderate levels of self-reported environmental toxin perceived exposure and awareness. In the food and water (OR = 1.66,