Science says some men's beards are "as dirty as toilets"
An Alburquerque, New Mexico affiliate of ABC News tested the beards of some "brave" men, and what they found shocked them.
The swabs were evaluated by Quest Diagnostics microbiologist John Golobic. While some of the beards tested were found to have a normal level of bacteria, others were "comparable to toilets."
"Those are the types of things you'd find in [fecal matter]," Golobic said.
The bacteria won't cause illness, ABC says, but Golobic added that if the bacteria found in the beards were to be discovered in the water supply, the system would need to be shut down and disinfected.
Battling the bacteria, however, is easy. If the problem is bad hygiene, the solution is good old-fashioned scrubbing. Periodically washing your hands and face, combined with not touching your face, can dramatically reduce the beard bacteria, says Golobic