How Dirty is a Dollar Bill?
The lifecycle of your cash
In its’ 60 month lifespan the dollar meets many people and many things and its’ cotton paper quickly becomes repulsive but with what?
Believe it or not, we pass our 1 dollar over 110 times a year, and with it is crawling loads of disgusting things or rather creatures. Let’s explore why you shouldn't constantly touch this piece of innocent-looking paper and what they’ve got in them.
Cocaine
Yes, over 80% of our dollar bills contain traces of the drug as people roll it up to snort it. Heroin is also found in many banknotes with an average one containing 30 micrograms of the substance. A driver in the UK even tested positive for cocaine only because he had used a banknote!
Methamphetamine and morphine were sometimes found although it was rarer. Luckily, the cocaine is impossible to remove from the bills confirmed chemist Jack Demirgian.
Acne and dairy bacteria
Lots of our banknotes contain Lactococcus lactis and Cutibacterium acnes found in cheese, buttermilk, and surprisingly acne. These two are ideal for dairy fermentation and fermentation. With it, if you could extract the bacteria, you could make pickled vegetables, wine, and kefir.
Disease and pathogens
A banknote is home to the notorious e.coli bacteria, salmonella, and staphylococcus aureus which are all found in feces. There is no denying that many 1 dollars contain poo; 1 in 7 actually found traces of it. That makes a dirty lavatory cleaner than our banknotes. It is also home to bacteria responsible for scarlet fever and strep throat.
3000 cultures of bacteria
3000 seems like a lot but it’s mundane for a banknote and some are not of the friendliest nature. That includes bacteria that are related to urinary tract infection and pneumonia- these were found in banknotes in Ohio.
Now even antibiotic-resistant strains called MRSA are found. It gets even worse- the sebum and mucus found on the dollar allow bacteria to reproduce quite rapidly making it sometimes even a dangerous item to touch.
Cash really is of the most disgusting and vile nature
It is our very own petri dish full of germs, feces, acne, milk bacteria, scarlet fever, and loads of other harmful substances found just in our purses and bags. So next time you take out your 1 dollar, remember you are holding something so dirty, a toilet seat is a delight next to it.
