Movember men may want to be extra cautious this month with the care and hygiene of their moustaches, because microbiologists have shown that facial hair is a bacterial sponge.

It turns out that upper-lip scruff could be full of infectious bacteria, and scientists have shown that no amount of scrubbing will keep it perfectly out of trouble.

Moustache-growing men in November who are raising money for causes such as fighting prostate cancer and raising awareness of male mental health issues also have to fight the microbial battle, CBC science columnist Michael Bhardwaj has learned.

"While that may seem well and good, scientists have proven that scrubbing that 'stache may not be enough to prevent the spread of disease," he says.

A study dating back to 1967 and the Vietnam War era has all the evidence and what can be done about it.

Manuel Barbeito, who was a microbiologist in the U.S. Army's health and safety labs at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Md., told Bhardwaj that he and fellow scientists led an experiment that proved just how hazardous beards could be in the lab at least.

They were paying close attention to microbiological safety in those labs, trying to figure out why it was so easy for nasty bugs to hitch a ride on doors or clothes or shoes and hands. (Fort Detrick was also reported to be a centre for research in biological weapons from 1943 to 1969.)

But nobody had thought to pay much attention to the growing number of moustaches and beards among male researchers.

Manuel and a few friends decided to see if facial hair was a good vector for infectious bacteria. They became the guinea pigs for part of the experiment.

They spent more than two months growing big, thick, glossy beards, and then sprayed them with non-infectious bacteria. They let the bacteria fester in their beards for a while, then they lathered, rinsed but didn't repeat. Afterward, they swabbed their beards to see what bugs stuck around.

The rest is here:
Movember moustaches may hold hazards