Rubber ducks are filled with germs, according to scientists, who recently released a report detailing nasty bugs found in the cute yellow bath-time toys.
Swiss and American researchers counted the microbes swimming inside the toys and say the murky liquid released when ducks were squeezed contained "potentially pathogenic bacteria" in four out of five toys studied. The bacteria included Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that "often implicated in hospital-acquired infections."
The study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, ETH Zurich and the University of Illinois was published Tuesday in the journal Biofilms and Microbiomes.
Researchers, who received funding from the Swiss government, say using higher-quality polymers to make the ducks could prevent bacterial and fungal growth.
© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.