Sunday Times 2
Dirty money: There are more germs on a coin than a toilet seat
It might be a matter of opinion as to whether money is the root of all evil – but cash is definitely dirty.
Scientists have discovered that the average banknote is home to 26,000 bacteria, which could be potentially harmful to our health.
Despite two thirds of us believing that handling bank notes and coins is unhygienic, just one in five Europeans wash their hands after holding cash, according to new research.
Bank notes and coins carry bacteria and other microbes
A Europe-wide study of over 9,000 consumers from 12 countries highlighted how despite being ranked as more unhygienic than hand rails on public transport or nuts in a bar, Europeans are struggling to break the bad habit of not cleaning their hands after handling dirty cash.
More germs can be found on a £1 coin than on a regularly cleaned toilet seat, but almost half of Britons admit to never washing their hands after handling money.
Men are more likely to avoid cleaning their hands than women at 55 per cent. Around 40 per cent of females skip the hygienic step.
The MasterCard research also highlighted that four in 10 Europeans claim they will try to be more hygienic and think that contactless payment will help.
Over half of respondents to the survey said they would prefer to use contactless payment instead of handling germ-ridden coins.
Dr Jim O’Mahony, lecturer in biological sciences at the Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland, said that humans have long been aware of the link between money and hygiene.
‘From a historical perspective there have even been reports that villagers believed money was somehow responsible for plague epidemics in England, with villagers leaving money in water troughs filled with vinegar in order to decontaminate it.
‘Scientifically, there have been many studies in recent years which have proven beyond doubt that bank notes and coins carry bacteria and other microbes.’
A MasterCard study conducted with the University of Oxford found that the average Europeanbanknote contains 26,000 bacterial colonies and UK notes were among the dirtiest – along with Denmark’s krone, Russia’s rouble and the Austrian euro.
© Daily Mail, London