Is Money Dirty?

[Argetni]

I was thinking that money is handled by so many people it must be filthy...I was also thinking that you may be able to catch diseases from it.

Opinions?

[Arnold Winkelried]

I've read that paper money is definitely "infected" with bacteria, and some of those (for example staphylococcus) can be harmful to humans. However I've never heard of a case of proven infection from currency.

[Phobos]

yep, cash carries germs...but it has not been identified as a significant vector for disease transmission....not yet anyway (just think of all the coins that are fished out of sewers and all the dollar bills that are tucked into unmentionable places. :eek: )

I saw some documentary recently where they tested to see what was living on cash...they didn't find anything alarming in that one study.

[Derleth]

Aren't all high-value notes ($20s, $50s, $100s) contaminated with cocaine? I read something to that effect in one of the Big Secrets books. It turns out some schlubs beat a drug rap after money they never laid hands on tested positive for cocaine.

[Sofa King]

There was a big thing on that on... 60 minutes? Some Alabama police department was hawking a stretch of highway and confiscating all large sums of cash, because every bundle would test positive.

What were they doing with it? Putting it back into circulation, of course.

[kindablue]

I recall doing an experiment in a microbiology class which consisted of smearing bills and coins on agar in a petrie dish and seeing what grew (ain't science glamourous?). The paper money yielded a whole jamboree of funky stuff, but the coins were sterile; the ions of the metal surface inhibit bacterial growth ( I forget the name of the effect at work).

[GaWd]

Actually, that's a horrendous UL you're all speaking of.

Approximately a year ago, there was also a hoax E-mail sent around regarding vending machines that would bust people who had money with drugs on it. But it was debunked.

-Sam

[Crusoe]

From BBC News (04/10/99) (http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid%5F464000/464368.stm):

Scientists who've been examining banknotes in circulation in London say nearly all of them carry traces of cocaine.

Only four out of five-hundred notes tested were free of the drug.

One of the scientists said that, in most cases, the contamination was probably caused by money-counting machines used by drug dealers.

But four percent of the banknotes gave a much higher reading -- suggesting that they might have been rolled up and used as straws to snort cocaine.

[bibliophage]

About 18 percent of coins and 7 percent of bills grew disease-causing bacteria. Most contaminated samples grew Staphylococcus aureus, a ubiquitous bug that colonizes skin and nostrils. Two cultures grew bacteria found in the digestive tract: Escherichi coli and Klebsiella enterobacter. Staphylococcus can cause bacterial food poisoning, blood poisoning or toxic shock syndrome, says Shirley Lowe, assistant clinical professor of microbiology, who designed the study.
source: http://detnews.com/1998/accent/9801/28/01280045.htm

[AWB]

When I worked fast food, the cashiers weren't allowed to handle food without first washing their hands. Whether this was a well-founded practice or not, I still cringe when a cashier puts together my order without washing.

[PaulT]

It's a very well-founded practice -- and don't just cringe, complain! A lot of employees seem to think hand-washing is just a time-waster their bosses came up with, so educate them -- we'll all be healthier for it.

[SuaSponte]

The October 1998 issue of Discover Magazine had a cover story and several articles about the history and science of money. One article was called "Filthy Lucre" and discussed both the cocaine and bacteria issues. The "Filthy Lucre" article is listed but not included on Discover.com, but my recollection is that both cocaine and bacteria is present on U.S. bills in disturbingly high amounts.

Sua

[yabob]

Cocaine on money:

http://www.jatox.com/abstracts/1996/jul-aug/213-cone.htm
http://www.anl.gov/OPA/news97/news970326.html

Only partially a URL. About 80% containing detectable amounts of cocaine is true. Note the amounts reported in those articles - I don't know that I'd consider levels generally in the microgram range a "disturbing" amount.

Paper is absorbent. I have no doubt that you can find traces of all sorts of stuff on the money. I wonder how much tobacco is on the money. I wonder how much oil and gasoline is on the money. Insecticides, etc.

Look at it this way - the worse chemical contaminants probably kill the germs.

[Cardinal]

Yeah, money's dirty. It's against the California health codes certainly to handle money and food without a wash in between. I only got away with it selling popcorn outdoors because we didn't actually touch the food.

[GaWd]

Time to start licking my bills! :D

-Sam

[Crusoe]

Time to start licking my bills
You probably don't want to know what I misread that as, GaWd.