New Study Reveals That Around 1,530 Bacteria Can Be Found on £5 Notes

With the number of cash transactions decreasing over the past few years as a safety measure to combat the virus, Merchant Machine analysed the movement of cash in the US and UK currencies to work out the number and types of bacteria that can be found on individual banknotes to reveal which ones are the ‘dirtiest’. 

You can view the full study here.

The below chart shows just some of the types of bacteria that are carried on our cash. These types of bacteria have been associated with sepsis, weak immune systems, UTI’s, meningitis, and food poisoning. 

£5 notes were found to be the dirtiest with 1,530 types of harmful bacteria on average, with £10 carrying 330 types of bacteria that could cause illness, and £20 notes containing 300 types.