Survey finds ‘dirty’ money is health hazard in hospitals

An Irish researcher has revealed just how dirty our money is following the first study of its kind on the Euro currency.

PhD student Emma Gabriel’s findings prompted calls last night for high-risk healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes to move to cashless transactions to prevent the spread of potentially deadly bacteria on euro notes and coins.

Ms Gabriel, 31, an IRCSET scholar at Cork Institute of Technology’s (CIT) Department of Biological Sciences, spent a year analysing 155 €10 notes, and well as €2 and €1 coins, gathered from retails outlets all over Cork.