(Newswire.net — May 12, 2015) — Multiple news sites reported on a new study that concluded “beards can contain more poo than a toilet.” Though he doesn’t have a beard, at least on his web photos, journalist for Guardian Australia Nick Evershed was curious to read the original study and to personally investigate the story.
Evershed discovered that there was no actual study. The whole story revolves around segment from a local TV news station in New Mexico, where a reporter randomly collected samples of several men’s beards and send them to a lab for microanalysis.
Reportedly, the microbiologist John Golobic identified some entero-bacteria that normally live in the intestines and “can be find in feces,” in the submited samples. The same bacteria are often found on dirty hands. It seems that no one questioned the TV report.
Though Evershed found enough evidence to question the results reported in the poop in the beard story, he decided to go even further and find out if there are “any actual proper studies into microbes in beards?” After a reviewing a few related studies, eventually he did find one research report published in the Journal Anaesthesia which looked at whether facial hair had any effect on the ability of surgical face masks to prevent transmission of bacteria.
The study found that having a beard actually reduced the likelihood of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus being present on the skin. Normally, aftershave lotions have an antiseptic feature, which confound the nature of the results.
Evershede, however, wrote that in his survey of the literature he found that “the unbearded workers still shed enough bacteria to emphasise the importance of everyone wearing face coverings for sterile procedures, regardless of your facial hair situation.”
“There is more crap in these stories about poo in beards than there is in beards, “ Evershede concluded.
The story raises the question of method and accuracy of quasi-science that is oftern the subject of sensational journalism.
“When one comes across a claim so extreme and provocative as “men’s beard’s are filled with poop”, they should do so with a great deal of skepticism,” according to D. Spencer Brown of the University of Chicago.
“First, one should look at the research on which the claim is based. Before coming to any conclusion, the scientific method should be followed thoroughly. This means testing a hypothesis using sound, replicable methods on a large sample size that has been selected in a way to prevent bias. These types of studies take time, often months or years to complete. On this basis alone the “poop in beards” claim falls apart. A news reporter grabbing a few men off the street and swabbing their beards hardly resembles scientific research. Concluding that all men’s beards contain feces based on this “study” is like claiming that the average height of Americans is 4’5″ after measuring ten 2nd graders,” according to Brown.