I was recently having dinner with a friend and looked down at his forearm, only to find a light-colored streak running up, or down, his skin. I looked at him, looked at his arm, looked at him, and then we laughed for about thirty minutes. He was embarrassed; I was glad we decided not to share French fries.
Not that I really needed to worry—he had washed his hands, he just missed his arm. And according to a new study, women actually carry far more varities of bacteria on their hands then men.
But why?
"Noah Fierer, lead
researcher and assistant professor in Colorado’s department of ecology
and evolutionary biology, suggested the reason may have to do with the
acidity of the skin. Rob Knight, biochemist and co-author said men
generally have more acidic skin than women.
"Other possibilities for the variation are
gender difference in sweat and oil gland production, frequency of
moisturizer and cosmetic application, hormone production and skin
thickness.
"Women may also have more bacteria living under their skin, which cannot be removed by standard hand washing."
Yum.
[Tahlequah Daily Press: Study: 'Fairer' sex has dirtier hands!]
Related:
[Image]
