Do you remember your mother ever telling you not to put money in your mouth? She was, as usual, right. Money is dirty.
One study done a number of years ago linked cocaine and dollar bills. Greater than 80% of old, used one dollar bills that were destroyed by the Federal Government contained traces of cocaine.
Building a Case Against the Bills
Other drugs, including morphine, heroin, methamphetamine and amphetamine, also lingered on these bills, though less commonly than cocaine. All money could stand to be literally laundered.
But it gets worse. Also found on bills were fecal matter, yes, that’s feces.
A 2002 report in the Southern Medical Journal showed pathogens including staphylococcus, on 94% of dollar bills tested. Paper money is really cloth, like your jeans. When magnified it has millions of indentations that can carry more germs than a household toilet.
One New York University researcher identified 3,000 types of bacteria in all on paper bills. These bacteria can live on the bills for up to 17 days. The same study showed that bacteria that cause gastric ulcers, pneumonia, food poisoning, staph infections such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which causes skin infections, and bacterium that causes acne live on bank notes in North America.
Dropping, Dropping
Coins don’t rank better. Bacteria that cause food-borne illness, including Salmonella and a pathogenic strain of E.coli., have been shown to survive on pennies, nickels and dimes and can hide out on ATM machines.
So what do you do with all this dirty money? Wash your hands of it. Give it to the Lord. Dig deep down into your wallet and get rid of all those cocaine laced bacteria growing paper bills. Put it in the offering plate and hope the deacons are wearing gloves.
