As I write this, I note that my own keyboard is stained with tea and remnants of lunches past — mainly in the form of bread crumbs — have fossilized in the tight spaces between the keys.
Given that gross bit of reality, I shudder to think of what’s lurking on the desks occupied by my male colleagues.
A new study, led by Scott Kelley, a biology professor at San Diego State University, has found men’s offices have “significantly” more bacteria than women’s.
“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,” said Kelley, whose study was published May 30 in the online journal PLoS ONE.
“This study provides detailed baseline information about the rich bacterial communities in typical office settings and insight into the sources of these organisms,” he said in a media release issued by the university.
Kelley told the Canadian Press the difference between men and women may be due to the fact that men are generally bigger, and therefore have more surface space on which to carry bacteria.
But it could also mean men are not be as fastidious as women when it comes to washing their hands.
The good new is there’s no suggestion the bacteria found will put people’s health at risk; we all carry bacteria at all times.
But the fact that Kelley’s research team identified more than 500 bacterial genera, the most abundant of which tended to come from human skin or the nose, mouth, or (shiver) intestinal cavities, is still pretty off-putting.
Kelley and his team swabbed surfaces in 90 offices in New York City, Tucson, Ariz., and San Francisco, Calif.
They found that chairs and phones had a high abundance of bacteria, while the abundance on the desktop, keyboard, and mouse was somewhat lower.
The complete research article can be ready in the PLoS One here.
Now please pardon me while I go to find the stash of office cleaning products …