Assessment of contaminants associated with handling of currency notes

Khizra Majeed

Analytical chemistry

• Outline

• Currency is every where • Types of currency• What is contaminated • Types of contamination and

Hazards • Analyticl techniques

Currency !!!Currency !!every where

• Total number of currency notes in circulation through out the country Rs1771.452 billion, according to latest report of the State Bank of Pakistan

• ATM transaction reached 19 million and number of ATM’s is 7,416

• 7.743 billion is used for trade

Types of currency Two broad catagories of notes • POROUS paper/cloth notes

• NON POROUS Polymer notes (australlia,mexico,israel,canada)

Porous/paper

• Made from a special blend of cotton, linen, other textile fiber and animal gelatin for the surface coating of banknotes with small segments of fiber

• Cotton absorbs moisture and is inclined to de-teriorate quite rapidly with use

Polymer/nonporous

Modren • Polymer banknotes are banknotes  made from

a polymer  such as biaxially oriented polypropylene  (BOPP)

Polymer

Early bank notes

spun-bonded olefin sheet made of polyethylene

Recently many countries have been replaced banknotes from paper to plastic polymers substrate banknotes made using BOPP are • harder to tear,• more resistant to folding, • more resistant to soil, waterproof and are

shreddable, • low bacterial count compared with the

cotton-based ‘paper’ banknotes. , • And recylable  at the end

What is contaminated

Contaminated currency is currency that has been damaged by or exposed to contaminants, poses a health hazard or safety risk, and cannot be processed under normal operating procedures.

Causes

• Floodwater or any prolonged exposure to water or other liquids

• Exposure to blood, urine, feces or any other bodily fluids, including removal from any body cavity, corpse or animal

• Exposure to sewage• Exposure to any foreign substance or chemical,

including dye-packs, which may pose a health hazard or safety risk

• Ink microscopic, sticky surface miscellaneous environmental dirt and grime (including narcotics) can become attached • The fibers spread apart interstices small particles • Cotton linen fibers bind chemically retention

mechanism

Chemical biological

• viruses • Bacteria• Fungi

• Drugs • Dye packs • Other

chemicals

Types of contaminants

Chemical contamination

Drugs 1. CocainCocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant and one of the most abused illicit drugs in the world Cocaine (INN) (benzoylmethylec-gonine tropane alkaloid that is obtained rom the leaves of the coca plant

Source

. Through drug dealers

Cocaine and other drugs are traded using cash, which is handled by the same fingers that directly touch the drugs or wrappings.

Using banknotes for snorting the drug

Note Out of every four

banknotes, average

than two are tainted

by cocaine or another

illicit drug

Through ATM machines

It is now suspected that the very high percentage of contaminated currency is the result of a few heavily contaminated bills, contaminating the “ATM machines” at banks. These contaminated machines then in turn contaminate other bills.

2. Methaphetamine

• Sulfates  used in the production of methamphetamine

• Ammonia is extracted from either ammonium sulfate • Mix with human sweat to form sulphuric acid

Sulphates +sweat H2SO4

Other drugs

• Heroin• 6-acetylemorphine (also called "6 AM") morphine• Codein•  Amphetamine •  Phenecyclidine

2.Bisphenol A

• Used as a colour developer in thermal receipt

paper

• Bisphenol A (BPA) is a carbon based

industrial,man-made chemical, with two

hydroxyphenyl groups. belonging to a family

of molecule known as bis bhenols

What is the relevance of BPA?

• The cash register receipts are coated with a powdery layer of bisphenol-A

• These cash receipts that people place near paper money in billfolds, purses, and pockets has led to a worldwide contamination of paper money with bisphenol A (BPA)

What is the problem with BPA?

When used in thermal paper, BPA is present as "free" (i.e., discrete, non-polymerized) BPA, which is likely to be more available for exposure than BPA polymerized into a resin or plastic.

• Studies indicate that BPA acts as an endocrine disruptor — meaning it mimics the action of the sex hormone estrogen.

• Increased risk of breast carcinoma • Increased risk of obesity• diabetes mellitus type 2 • cardiovascular diseases • autoimmune diseases • asthma

Substitute for BPA is BPS

• BPS has been suggested as a substitute for BPA.

• Bisphenol S(4,4’-dihidroxydiphenyl sulphone), abbreviated BPS

BUT !!!!!Bisphenol S have similar estrogenic activity to bisphenol A and so its main advantage in these applications is merely that• it escapes the legal prohibition on bisphenol A and• allows products containing bisphenol S to be labelled

"BPA free"

Biological contamination

Currency notes might act as environmental vehicles for the transmission of potential pathogenic microorganisms

Viruses• survival of influenza viruses • Porous upto 72 hours• Non porous upto 24 hours • Survival on hands after transfer is 5min

Fungi • Wet or dam places • Causes asthma,skin irritation

Analytical techniques

Exraction methods

• vacuum sampling• solvent extraction• direct thermal desorption• Solid-phase extraction (SPE)

Analytical methods

• GCMS• HPLC• capillary electrophoresis (CE)• immunoassays

GCMS

Health concerns

Hepatitis-C contamination• As drug users are frequently impaired, they can easily fail to

notice small traces of blood on these rolled banknotes• As eight out of ten carriers are unaware of the status (as

hepatitis can lie dormant for decades)

Recommendation

• Regular disinfection of currency deposited in banks by ultraviolet light or formalin vapors.

• The general awareness about the possibility of acquiring infection while applying saliva on fingers for counting currency notes and good personal hygiene must be created in the public.

• hand-washing exercise and other hygiene practices.

References

• Robert brucethompson,Barbara frithcman . “Illustrated Guide to Home Forensic Science Experiments”, 2012 ,448 page

• S. Armenta, M. de la Guardia, “Analytical methods to determine cocaine contamination of banknotes from around the world’’, Trends in Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2008

• Jawed ahmed badvi,saleem hafizand lutfullah baloch, “Various outlets are the potential source of bacterial infections through the pakistan currency notes’’,vol. 19 - no.4 - 2013 (87 - 92 )