Clean our money

It will take much more than curious laws to clean up our dirty money. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi promises to attack black money with harsh laws, even the law-abiding average citizen may wish to wash his hands of filthy lucre. In any case, if you are a well-trained middle class Indian, especially a Bengali, you will be addicted to washing your hands thoroughly after handling money. All money — not just black — is dirty, we have been taught, and good Bengalis safely stay away from it.

With reason. According to a new study by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Institute of Geno-mics and Integrative Biology our rupee notes are teeming with bacteria that could cause anything from skin disease and stomach upsets to tuberculosis. The study identified 78 pathogens, with a wide range of fungi, bacteria and viruses, including dreaded, almost invincible, antibiotic resistant germs.

Do not recoil in horror, dear reader. Surely you are not surprised — or shocked — by this news? We have always known that money was dirty — in more ways than one. Some families even have stories of eccentric uncles or aunts who washed money with soap and water and hung them out on a clothesline to dry. And our temples, the advertised abode of gods, have developed the art of cleaning money swiftly and professionally. There are nifty money-cleaning fluids available in the market too. Money laundering is far more common — and respectable — than you think. In fact, back in the 1990s Japan had started ATM-like machines for cleaning bank-notes.

Wonder why it didn’t catch on. Anyway, now scientists have developed a technique of cleaning notes with superheated carbondioxide that preserves security features like holograms on it. This way we could prevent human infection as well as extend the life of the banknote. Which could save millions in public health expenses and minting expenses. So you can’t be shocked. This is old hat. But yes, the sheer magnitude of the germ-field and the range of diseases our rupees may offer does make you cringe in fear.

We could, of course, seek shelter in ignorance. Because as of now there is no proof that the traced germs are robust enough to cause infection. Not with regard to the rupee notes studied in this research project, that is. This merely looked for DNA fingerprints of pathogens, which just proves that the currency notes exa-mined had encountered these germs. Whether they can still infect is another story.

A story that has been told in other countries. Around the world there have been studies that have conclusively shown that germs can be transferred through currency notes and coins. And notes in moist hands transfer more germs than in dry hands. In our hot and humid country, where rupees on the street are routinely softened by sweat, that is not good news. But this is not just our problem. Earlier studies have shown how currency notes have been silently ferrying germs around the world for ages.

And what a rich variety of pathogens they offer. Banknotes and coins from hospitals could be highly contaminated with all kinds of bacteria and viruses, including the much-feared Staphylococcus aureus. Food outlets routinely offer Salmonella and Escherichia coli (commonly called E. coli) and sometimes Staphylococcus aureus as well. And all of this could be swiftly transferred to you as you pay and get back the change. A 2012 study in Oxford University sho-wed that an average currency note harboured 26,000 bacteria. The chance of infection is quite excellent.

But the ability of banknotes and coins to transfer germs depends on many factors, two of the most important being the climate and the ma-terial out of which the note is made. Our oily, sweaty hands and humid climate help in the transmission. But in some studies our banknotes have shown more resistance to transferring germs than other notes, like the Romanian leu, for example.

Anyway, germs lurk in surprising places. Take women’s handbags. The bottoms of wo-men’s handbags are so rife with bacteria and viruses that it puts even public toilets to shame. A recent British study found that the average ladies’ handbag was three times dirtier than office toilet seats. This should not surprise us, because a 2006 study had established that handbags could be as dirty as the floor of public toilets. Even traces of faecal matter were found on the bottom of handbags, which is probably not what you generally associate with a lady’s fancy purse. It probably comes from putting your bag down on the ground in public places.

Once collected by the bag, these germs are then quickly transferred on to other surfaces. You touch the bag and your hands are contaminated, you put the bag down on a clean surface and that place could be dirtied up. So, not plonking your bag, and not allowing others to plonk theirs, on tables or clean beds and pillows is a good idea. We may not even realise how we cart horrible germs from distant places to our dining table or the apparently spotless pillow we nuzzle into at night.

But there are other surprisingly dirty places as well. One study found the kitchen — especially shared kitchens — to be far more dirty than the toilet, with several surfaces, from the handles of the fridge or the microwave to the draining board, abuzz with high concentrations of coliform bacteria, including E. coli. There are other innocent-looking bacteria-bombs at home too. Like the keyboard on your computer. Or your TV remote. Or your cellphone. They are everywhere. Your life is bugged brilliantly.

In my childhood, there used to be a guy who periodically dropped in to clean my grandma’s majestic black telephone. He left it sparkling clean and smelling delightfully flowery. Those were unhurried times, when everything we used was cared for, cleaned, looked after. That was also when we were made to scrub our hands well and proper every time we touched money. Urban, middle-class life was supposed to be clean. It began at home.

So, dear reader, be warned. Money can be a health hazard. Best to stay away from filthy lucre. Wait, what are you reaching for down there, into that dirty, stinky drain by the road? What on earth is that grim grey patch you are peering at? Oh, a hundred rupee note? Really? Here, let me see...

The writer is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com