Germs in your wallet can make you sick

Bio-Clean director Peter Guerin, conducted tests that show just how dirty money can be.
Germs on money may be making unwary people sick - some notes are more than six times filthier than a public lavatory.

But don't think swapping it for plastic will magically make the germs disappear.

A Public Defender investigation of 10 Melbourne Australia shoppers' wallets found cash and credit cards could be potential hotbeds for bacteria.

In the worst example, a $10 note recorded a contamination count of 63,556 - that's 6.4 times higher than the average count from similar tests on public lavatory seats throughout the city.
A reading below 500 is considered acceptable.

Credit and debit cards were generally cleaner, but one recorded a count almost double a toilet. Mobile phones swabbed also returned worrying results.

Bio-Clean director Peter Guerin, who conducted the tests, said bacteria such as staphylococcus and E.coli, which can cause severe diarrhea, were likely dangers. "You've got a lot of live cells sitting on an inanimate surface," Mr Guerin said.

Werribee's Sharon Rowling, one of the shoppers to have her items tested, said the results were a shock. "That is where we get all these bugs," she said.

Public Defender gauged the number of living organisms on each surface using a lumitester, a quick way to check general cleanliness.

RMIT food science senior lecturer Dr. Bee May said food and money should never be double-handled, a mistake hospitality staff often made. Ideally a separate staff member should handle cash, she said.

"They have to treat money as a raw food, basically, and ensure there is no cross-contamination." Regular hand washing is the simplest way to avoid germs.