BALLARAT, Australia (Sept. 23, 2010) — Researchers from Australia's University of Ballarat have dispelled an urban myth by showing banknotes do not carry dangerous levels of bacteria.
But they found polymer banknotes, such as those used in Australia, carry the least quantity of contamination.
Australia's notes are manufactured and marketed by Melbourne-based Securency International Pty. Ltd., a joint venture established in 1996 between the Reserve Bank of Australia and UK-based polymer film maker Innovia Films Ltd. The biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) polymer substrate has been used in Australian banknotes since 1988 and the technology sold to about 30 other countries.
University of Ballarat food microbiologist Dr. Frank Vriesekoop led a global research team analyzing banknotes from at least 10 nations.
“The richer and more developed countries had fewer bacteria on their money than poorer countries,” he said.
“Importantly, nowhere in the world were alarming levels of pathogenic bacteria found on money. We also found the age of the banknotes, and the material of which they are made, will affect the extent of contamination of that money.”
The international study collected a total of 1,280 banknotes from food outlets, such as foodshops and cafeterias, and tested them for bacteria.
The research was conducted in Australia, the U.S., the United Kingdom, China, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
The researchers published their findings in the U.S. scientific journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.
Mr. Vriesekoop said: “Older notes are more wrinkled, so dirt and bacteria can easily nestle in the folds of the notes. The material the banknotes are made of was also found to be important.
“In most countries, banknotes are made from a cotton-based material; while in Australia, New Zealand and Mexico the notes are made from polymer. We found notes made from polymer carried significantly less bacteria compared to notes based on cotton.”
The researchers also found the lower a country scored on the “index of economic freedom,” the more bacteria were on the banknotes.
The index incorporates levels of business, trade, monetary and financial freedom; freedom from too much government interference; and the degree of absence of corruption.
“It is also likely that, in a country that scores low on this index, the banknotes might be older than in countries with a higher score,” Mr. Friesekoop said.
“We found only very low levels of pathogenic bacteria in any banknotes and never in alarming numbers.”
However, the researchers still recommend food handling and collecting and exchanging money be physically separated in food outlets and preferably undertaken by different people.
This report appeared in Plastics News, an Akron-based sister publication of Tire Business.