Science Confirms the Obvious: People Wash Their Hands More When They're Watched

While I can confirm that the percentages for male hand washing are approximately correct, it's worth noting that the woman's purse is among the most filthy items routinely carried around, probably far worse than a man's hands. That's because of the multitude of surfaces women put their purses and the fact that they're not often cleaned.

Fear the purse.

There are also a multitude of studies that show that antibacterial soap and hand sanitizer are worse for your health than regular soap. The human body has natural bacteria on your hands that help fight of the bad bacteria. When you use those bacteria killing products they kill the good with the bad, making you more susceptible to harmful germs. The study also showed that men have more total germs on their hands, but woman had more harmful germs. I need to find that study again for reference. I think popsci did an article on it.

Our immune system is for the most part reactive, requiring access to foreign stimulus to become more robust.
It seems to me the more hand washing one does, the less opportunity ones immune system gets to come into contact with pathological bacteria, virus', and parasites. I'm not saying we should all be running around with filthy hands, but since our health is dependent on a little access to dirt, being ludicrous about hand washing seems counter-productive. Of course I'm wholly unsurprised that this research comes out of the ultimate nanny-state.

Robert1234: The one of a hundred that proves a "known" is wrong is why these kinds of studies are needed. Once, as we all know, the earth was obviously flat, man could not fly, and disease was caused by demons and vapors.

what about hand sanitizer?

Does anyone know why the TickleMe Plant MOVES when you Tickle It? When will they resolve this ancient mystery.
www.tickllemeplant.com See the video

woops typo The link is www.ticklemeplant.com