The bad news? A new study has concluded that women have a bigger variety of bacteria on their hands.
The worse news? Men and women have more bacteria on their hands than the researchers had expected to find. Gross!
From USA Today:
The researchers aren't sure why women harbored a
greater variety of bacteria than men, but they suggested it may have
to so with the acidity of the skin. ... [M]en generally have more
acidic skin than women.
Other possibilities are differences in sweat and
oil gland production between men and women, the frequency of
moisturizer or cosmetics applications, skin thickness or hormone
production...
What's really weird is individuals had few types of bacteria in common. So we've all got our own special cooties. And the difference between the bacteria on one person's right hand vs. that same person's left hand were quite different.
Oh, and handwashing doesn't kill all or even most bacteria. But still, keep doing it.
Photo: USA Today
