The contents of a woman's handbag have long remained a mystery to men around the world.

全球各地的男性都好奇女生的手提包里装了些什么。

But the truth is a lot dirtier than one could ever have imagined.

但真相却比任何人想象的都要“脏”得多。

German research found 10,000 different bacteria are present in just a few square centimetres of handbag, making it dirtier than your average toilet seat.

德国一项研究显示，手提包里面仅仅几平方厘米的面积里，就生活着约1万种不同的细菌，脏的程度甚至超过一般的马桶座圈。

So how does your bag get so disgustingly filthy?

那么你的包包是如何变得如此肮脏，让人厌恶的呢？

The Herald Sun spoke with My Bag Spa owner Alex How from Melbourne, who has found food scraps, rubbish and even dog or cat urine in handbags.

《先驱太阳报》采访了“包包水疗”的店主，来自墨尔本的亚历克斯-豪，他在女性手提包里发现过食品残渣、垃圾甚至猫狗的尿液。

'Dog and cat pee are the worst and we have to wear gloves and a mask to remove those smells or else our skin starts to itch,' Mr How said.

豪先生说，“猫狗的尿液是最糟糕的情况，我们不得不带上手套和口罩来清除异味，否则皮肤会开始发痒。”

'Some bag users put rubbish in their bag and totally forget about it.

“一些包包的主人把垃圾放在包里，之后完全忘了这回事。”

'Wine, all sorts of food scraps and sauces and cigarettes are things that build up over years. It can be quite ugly when the bags come in for service.'

“这些年，我们在手提包里发现的酒渍、各种食物残渣和酱汁、以及香烟等物品越来越多。这些手提包送来接受服务时实在太难看了。

The bacteria from your hands can also contaminate your bag's lining, with much of the dirt trapped between the lining and the leather exterior.

手上的细菌也会污染手提包的衬里，大部分污物夹在衬里和外皮之间。

The Herald Sun spoke with online cleaning agent Helpling partner manager Roxanna Pelka, who said handbags are dirtier than your average toilet, as toilets are cleaned more regularly.

《先驱太阳报》还采访了在线家政服务提供商Helpling的商户经理洛克珊娜-佩尔卡，她说手提包比一般的马桶要脏，因为人们更经常地清洁马桶。

She quoted the Science World Report 2013 that revealed handbags have about ten times the amount of microbial activity than a toilet seat.

她引述《2013年科学世界报告》的话说，手提包上的微生物活性大约是马桶座圈上的10倍。

But not all handbags are rife with bacteria, with a bag's quality mainly dependent on the user.

但并非所有的手提包都遍布细菌，手提包的质量主要取决于主人。

Vocabulary

lining: 衬里，内层

microbial activity：微生物活性