WASHINGTON — A new study has found that women have a greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do.
And everybody has more types of bacteria than the researchers expected to find.
The researchers aren’t sure why women harbored a greater variety of bacteria than men, but one scientist suggested it may have to so with the acidity of the skin. Men generally have more acidic skin than women, said University of Colorado biochemistry assistant professor Rob Knight, a study author.
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, he said.
Asked if guys should worry about holding hands with girls, Knight said: “I guess it depends on which girl.”
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