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Article History

Received: 7 April 2025

Accepted: 29 December 2025

First Online: 7 January 2026

Declarations

:

: This study involved a voluntary, anonymous and non-interventional social-science survey of adult participants. No directly identifying or sensitive personal information was collected, and the questions related only to everyday washing practices and environmental attitudes. Informed consent was obtained prior to participation, and responses were used solely for academic purposes. India does not have a mandatory national ethics legislation or uniform review requirement for minimal-risk social-science surveys that do not involve biomedical risk, clinical procedures, or identifiable human data. The most widely recognised national ethical framework, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National Ethical Guidelines (2017), primarily addresses biomedical, clinical, public-health, and health-related social and behavioural research. As the present study is non-biomedical, minimal-risk, and anonymous, formal institutional ethics committee review was deemed unnecessary at the time of data collection in accordance with national research norms. Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection. Participation was voluntary and anonymous.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.