Money: terrible dirty!

A small experiment at the Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, found that in every gram of paper money there are more than 200 million aerobic bacteria and quite a lot of gram negative bacteria. On coins, the amount of bacteria found is hundreds of thousands times lower.

Paper money is easier to store bacteria than polymer money

There is something that is known to be very dirty, but people can't help but carry it, that's money. However, most of us do not know how seriously the currency is.

Experts counted bacteria and found that in a gram of paper, there were 210 million aerobic bacteria (only active in air-conditioned environments) and 32,000 gram-negative bacteria. Over 2 coins have only 470 aerobic bacteria and no gram negative bacteria (maybe the coin environment is not favorable for it to grow). In addition, there are also Bacillus in the coins, bacteria that exist in the air, mainly causing intestinal diseases.

Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, Deputy Director of the Vault Issuing Department of the State Bank of Vietnam, said that the dirtiest is cotton paper money because of its highly absorbing and storing characteristics. In the storehouses waiting for destruction, after only a few days, mold has proliferated, stinking stinking money. The polymer money and coins are cleaner because of less permeability so bacteria do not have many favorable conditions, reducing the ability to spread diseases.

Currently, the State Bank of Vietnam still regularly collects old money for people. But the standard of exchange is too low, only applicable to currencies that are nearly unusable, such as being torn, written down, and stained with dirty stains. People do not have the habit of exchanging old money because of their hesitation and the distance between banks and most people, especially poor people, is still far away.

How to get dirty money?

Dr. Binh Minh said that the experts of epidemiological hygiene are usually antiseptic with some chemicals and ultraviolet light. But for money, this is impossible, because money never stays in one place but always moves. According to Ms. Minh, disinfection should be done periodically at banks with the function of issuing and circulating cash. However, with too much money, this is very difficult to implement. Therefore, it is best for each person to wash their hands with soap after exposure to money.