Beards may be in and many people may even call them sexy…but they are in fact…dirty!
Scientists discovered men with beards have more germs in their hairs than dogs carry in their fur.
A new study found that every sample of beard hair collected was crawling with bacteria. Nearly half had bugs and bacteria considered hazardous to human health, the Daily Mail reports. The dogs tested had lower levels of microbes, a bacterium that causes disease.
Scientists initially wanted to determine if humans could pick up a dog-borne disease. Researchers took swabs from beards of 18 men, ages 18 to 76, and the necks of 30 dogs.
The results ended up showing something a little gross…The results revealed that all of the bearded men had high amounts of microbial counts. Only 23 of the 30 dogs had high counts, and the remainder had moderate levels. Seven men even had harbor microbes that posed a threat to their health.
The overall findings suggest that men’s beards are actually a tad dirtier than a dogs fur. But not all agree with the scientists findings.
Keith Flett, the founder of the Beard Liberation Front, told the Daily Mail he questions the findings.
“I think it’s possible to find all sorts of unpleasant things if you took swabs from people’s hair and hands and then tested them. I don’t believe that beards in themselves are unhygienic.”
