It’s a dirty world out there. Did you know, human skin sheds every day, or that the air you breathe is most probably filled with dirt, grime and bacteria? Bacteria, fungi and viruses have made our phones, seats, door knobs and all our personal belongings their home.
Not only that! We manage to pass these tiny organisms to each other when we are shaking hands, sharing a bag of chips or even sitting on a park bench.
Now researchers are saying that we share our pet microbes even through our money!
Each dollar, passes from persont o person samples a bit of the environment it comes from and passes those bits to the next person it goes to.
The list of things found on our hard-earned cash include DNA from our pets, or other more unsuitable places, traces of drugs and bacteria and viruses, that cause disease!
The findings demonstrate hoe money can silently record human activities, leaving behind ‘molecular echoes.’
Some of the most common bugs on our bills included Propionibacterium acnes, a bacteria known to cause acne, and Streptococcus oralis, a common bacteria found in our mouths.
The research team, led by biologist Jane Carlton at New York University, also discovered traces of DNA from domestic animals and from specific bacteria that are associated only with certain foods.
A similar study also found traces of DNA on ATM keypads, reflecting the kind of food people ate in different neighbourhoods.
But, as it turns, out, we don't leave only food behind.
Drugs and medication residues can also be found on those bills you exchange.
Bacteria that cause food-borne illness – including Salmonella and a pathogenic strain of E.coli – have been shown to survive coins and can hide out on ATM machines.
Other bacteria, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which causes skin infections, are found on bank notes as well.
Researchers are working on ways to clean money between transactions.
Putting older bills through a machine that exposes them to carbon dioxide at a specific temperature and pressure can strip dollar bills of oils and dirt left behind by human fingers, while the heat kills microbes that would otherwise linger.
Several countries are transitioning from money made of natural fibers to plastic, which may be less friendly to bacteria as well.
