A study gives new meaning to the term “dirty money.” Researchers found that bills from a bank carried 3,000 types of bacteria.
While most of the bacteria detected on the dollar bills were associated with mild conditions such as acne, there were some antibiotic resistant types, including the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to the researchers at the New York University’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology.
They said their study suggests that paper money could be a way for bacteria to pass between people. For example, they found that bills analysed in winter were more likely than those tested in summer to carry bacteria that can cause pneumonia, which suggests that money could play a role in its spread. The study authors said people shouldn’t be overly concerned about their findings. The lead investigator of genome sequencing at the Center for Genomics and Systems Biology said, “Microbes are so important, are very ubiquitous and they surround us all the time,”
“We did find certain microbes that we might be a little concerned about, but that doesn’t mean that people should be unduly concerned,” the lead investigator said.