Yuk! Women’s desks are the germiest says researcher

TUSCON, ARIZ.
February 14, 2007 7:18am

Bacteria levels in women's offices were nearly three times higher than in men's offices, according to Charles Gerba, a researcher at the University of Arizona who has made a reputation for scraping the crud from offices and reporting about it.

"What we found is that women seemed to have more 'stuff' in their offices, from makeup bags to pictures of family and purses on their desks," says Mr. Gerba in written comments. "It added up to big numbers for women, even though their offices typically looked cleaner."

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) of Oakland, which sells disinfectant, pays Mr. Gerba to make his studies.

Germs are fairly gender neutral when it comes to desktops and phones -- but computer mice and keyboards have three to four times more germs in women's offices than in men's, according to the study.

The gap widens even further when you open desk drawers. For many women, they're often the place to stash a snack and the UA researchers say they typically saw seven times more germs hiding out in women's desks than in men's.

It wasn't a clean sweep for men, though. According to Mr. Gerba, men's wallets are the single germiest item in any office -- four times germier than women's purses -- the item even the researchers were betting would come in at the top.

"Women frequently place their purses on the floor just about everywhere they go, so we've come to think of handbags as walking 'bag-teria,'" says Mr. Gerba. "But seems men may now have a good excuse to think twice before reaching for their wallets."

For the testing, samples were collected in fall 2006 from private offices and cubicles in office buildings located in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon and New York City. A total of 113 surfaces were tested and analyzed at the University of Arizona laboratories.

Other highlights:

Telephones

• Most germy: Women

Computer keyboards

• Most germy: Women

Computer mouse

• Most germy: Women

Desks

• Most germy: Men

Exclamation key on keyboard

• Most germy: Women

Pens

• Most germy: Women

The study also found the presence of mold on various office surfaces, most of which is isolated in the bottom desk drawer, a popular stash for lunch items and snacks.

"As people spend more time at their desks, germs find plenty to snack on," says Mr. Gerba. "Desks are really ‘bacteria cafeterias.’ They're breakfast buffets, lunch tables and snack bars, as we spend more and more hours at the office."

According to 2006 American Dietician Association survey, 57 percent of workers snack at their desks at least once a day, Clorox says. More than 75 percent of workers "only occasionally" clean their desks before eating; 20 percent never do, the survey found.

Mr. Gerba does more than poke around offices on germ quests for Clorox. You can find his official university bio here:

http://cals.arizona.edu/SWES/people/cv/gerba.htm