article_snippet: It is thought up to 88 per cent of bank notes in the UK carry traces of illegal drugs.
article_snippet: A study by the Forensic Science Service in 2010 found that almost every British bank note in circulation is likely to contain traces of cocaine.
article_snippet: Most bank notes now have traces of cocaine .
article_snippet: Notes are either contaminated by coming into contact with someone who has used cocaine, or other bank notes that contain traces.
article_snippet: Experts said notes are no longer routinely tested to identify drug users and dealers because most contain background traces of cocaine.
article_snippet: The number of notes detected is said to be an indicator of the prevalence of cocaine use in the UK.
article_snippet: Scientists found one in 20 notes gave very high readings for cocaine, showing Scientists were likely to have been handled by dealers.
article_snippet: A study by Mass Spec Analytical (MSA), based in Bristol, tested 500 banknotes in circulation in London and found just four did not contain traces of cocaine.
article_snippet: Banknotes are more likely to be contaminated with cocaine rather than heroin or ecstasy which degrade more rapidly.
article_snippet: Traces of cocaine use in the UK is now believed to be so widespread Traces of cocaine use in the UK is found in the water supply, tests by the Drinking Water Inspectorate found last year.
article_snippet: Employment judge Christa Christensen said: ‘The respondent [First Bus] was aware that bank notes in general circulation are or could be contaminated by cocaine. '
article_snippet: This in turn means that it was incumbent on the respondent, as part of a reasonable investigatory process, to investigate the possibility that that reality may have some significance to the claimant’s positive cocaine drug test.
highlights_snippet: Research has found 88 per cent of bank notes contain traces of cocaine .
  