Ask married couple Ben and Sarah Van Horn if they worry about handling the cash in their wallets, and you're likely to start a little disagreement between the two.
"It comes as fast it goes, so I pay no attention to it at all," Ben Van Horn said.
"I think about everything my hands come in contact with, so it comes up a lot in mind," Sarah Van Horn said.
Sarah isn't the only one who worries about what kind of little critters creep onto cash, which is why we decided to find out if your typical money is rich with germs.
We asked three consumers in KELOLAND to swap money, dollar-for-dollar, for germ-testing at Avera's Microbiology Laboratory.
"I would imagine plenty of hands touch it. There's probably all kind of germs that are on them that we don't even think about," said Larry Bone, who agreed to get his money tested.
Specialists took the legal tender and dabbed them onto four different plates, which were then put in an incubator that simulates human body conditions.
"There's a lot of dirt, lint. I'm sure there's a lot of dust and particles. Maybe there's germs," said Charles Anderson, who also agreed to get his money tested.
Then we waited to see what kind of micro-organisms can grow on money.
"There's probably some H1N1 in there, and some staph infection, and maybe some ebola. I mean, who knows?" Ben said.
After two days of sitting in 98-degree temperatures, Avera Technical Specialist Milt Schonewill showed us results that even surprised him. "Most of the dollar bills were cleaner than I expected, actually," Schonewill said.
The dollars had traces of bacteria commonly found on skin. There was also naturally-growing bacteria you'd find on floors and counter tops.
But one dish in particular stood out from the rest.
"There is most likely some sort of fecal contamination on the dollar bill from one point to another," Schonewill said.
In fact, Schonewill says that fecal matter swarmed all over the dish so badly, it made it difficult to spot other organisms that were growing. And the source?
"It could be someone, let's say, a farmer who's working out in the barn and (with) the cattle, then touched this dollar bill. Or it could be someone whose personal hygiene isn't what we'd like it to be," Schonewill said.
Schonewill says chances are none of the detected organisms will make you sick since the body is used to beating off those kind of bugs. But he says if enough of it is exposed to wounds or other places, it could be hazardous.
"If you're handling money, if you're out shopping and you come back and you're going to prepare food, wash your hands. If you go to the restaurant and you've handled money, go to the bathroom, wash your hands," Schonewill said.
As for washing your money, Schonewill says that might be a little extreme, which is why you are your own best protection, just in case you get your hands on some dirty money.
According to research by the University of Minnesota, the germiest money in your pocket is likely to be the coins, because viruses, such as the H1N1 virus have been known to live on shiny surfaces for up to two days.
