Beards are as dirty as toilets

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -Beards are big -- literally and figuratively.

A handful of brave men allowed Action 7 News to swab their beards, and the results showed some beards are as dirty as toilets.

Quest Diagnostics microbiologist John Golobic tested the swabs, and the results blew his mind.

"I'm usually not surprised and I was surprised by this," Golobic said.

Several of the beards that were tested contained a lot of normal bacteria, but some were comparable to toilets.

"Those are the types of things you'd find in (fecal matter)," Golobic said, referring to the tests.

Even though some of the bacteria won't lead to illness, Golobic said it's still a little concerning.

"There would be a degree of uncleanliness that would be somewhat disturbing," Golobic said.

Golobic recommends a thorough beard scrubbing and lots of hand-washing.

"(Also), try to keep your hands away from your face, as much as possible," he said.

If the city were to find similar samples in the water system, Golobic said it would need to be shut down for disinfecting.

For those of you that are now in cleaning and disinfecting mode, check out the gallery below on spring cleaning practices:

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