Grabbing EMF meter magnifies signal 10fold
Any conductive object has a strong effect on the electric fields around it. One of the effects is that fields are concentrated where the curvature of a conductive is greatest.

You are basically an animated bag of salt water, and you modify the electric fields wherever you go. The curvature of your body is greatest at the ends of your limbs, including your hands. So putting an E-field meter there is going to measure those effects.

There is nothing surprising about this.