Study: Women's Desks Four Times More Dirty Than Men's

FOX ^ | 02/15/07 | Unknown

[Froufrou]

Your office desk harbors far more bacteria than your workplace restroom, and if you're a woman, chances are your workspace has more germs than your male co-workers', a new research report shows.

Women have three to four times the number of bacteria in, on and around their desks, phones, computers, keyboards, drawers and personal items as men do, the study by University of Arizona professor Charles Gerba showed.

Gerba, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences, tested more than 100 offices on the UA campus and in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon and Washington, D.C. The $40,000 study was commissioned by the Clorox Co.

"I thought for sure men would be germier," Gerba said. "But women have more interactions with small children and keep food in their desks. The other problem is makeup."

Don't get Gerba wrong: Women's desks typically looked cleaner. But the knickknacks are more abundant, and cosmetics and hand lotions make prime germ-transfer agents, Gerba said. Makeup cases also make for fine germ homes, along with phones, purses and desk drawers.

[Erasmus]

Hands down, women are dirtier than men. Just look into any public men's room or ladies' room.

When I was a lad, my dad was the chief cook and bottle-washer at his employer's shop. Sometimes he had to clean the restrooms. He shared the same opinion with me.

But in the ensuing half-century, I have personally found little evidence to support it. Maybe becasue I don't get into ladies' rooms too often. < }B^)

[yhwhsman]

These articles are good for making some people germphobic to the point of abnormality

What did we ever do before Clorox wipes came around? And don't we need exposure to germs in order to beef up our immune system? Have we gotten so germaphobic that we are actually causing more harm then good?