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Traces of Cocaine In 95 Percent of D.C. Bank Notes Tested

August 17, 2009
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Scientists find traces of cocaine in U.S. banknotes.
American Chemical Society
Scientists find traces of cocaine in U.S. banknotes.

A new study details the amount of cocaine in your money. Scientists tested banknotes from five countries and found the highest levels of cocaine in U.S. and Canadian banknotes.

A team of scientists says most of the U.S. paper money they tested contains traces of cocaine, with more than 95 percent of the bills analyzed from D.C. testing positive.

The District has the dubious distinction of ranking number one in contaminated money. A team from the University of Massachusetts tested about 230 bank notes from across the U.S. Ninety percent of them were found to have varying amounts of cocaine- ranging from several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand- to about 50 grains of sand.

But the lead author of the study says there's no need for health concerns, you can't get high by sniffing a regular banknote, unless it was used directly in drug uptake or during a drug exchange. It also won't affect your health and is unlikely interfere with blood and urine tests used for drug detection.

Kavitha Cardoza reports...

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