It's official: Men are the grubbier sex

It’s a finding many women will agree with — men are really the grubbier sex. A new study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, has found that offices full of men staff had far more bacteria than those with more women.

Researchers from San Diego State University in California analysed 450 DNA swabs from 90 offices occupied by men and women in US cities. They found more than 500 types of bacteria, most of which originated from human skin, noses, ears and intestines. Others were brought in from the environment by shoes or clothes.

Chairs and phones had some of the highest concentrations of bugs, with lower numbers on desktops and keyboards.

Dr Scott Kelly, who led the study, said: “Surfaces in offices inhabited by men were more contaminated. While the differences among  cities do not seem interpretable, the differences between contamination in offices may be explained by differences in hygiene.”

“Men are known to wash their hands and brush their teeth less frequently, and are commonly perceived to have a more slovenly nature,” Kelly was quoted as saying by Daily Mail. “Humans are spending an increasing amount of time indoors, yet we know little about the  diversity of bacteria and viruses where we live, work and play.”

The results could be explained by the fact that men wash their hands and brush their teeth less frequently, and have a “more slovenly nature”, experts said. Dr Val Curtis of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said previous research has suggested men’s hands were dirtier than women’s.

“Men don’t take hygiene as seriously, but they also sweat more which attracts bacteria,” she added.