Why you should cut off those festival wristbands asap

Right now over 80,000 people are having the time of their lives at Lollapalooza in Chicago.

No doubt, many of those festival punters will continue to wear their entry wristbands as a badge of honour and a weathered and torn paper reminder of the good times for weeks to come.

But they really shouldn't. Cause that thing is NASTY!

According to microbiologist Dr. Allison Cottell in an article on riotfest.org, you should remove it immediately.

Dr. Cottell studied someone who wore two fabric festival wristbands for two years, and found nearly 9,000 micrococci and 2,000 staphylococci bacteria on them. More than twenty times the bacteria found on your clothes and that bacteria can cause infections, lead to boils, and even food poisoning.

What the hell is staphylococci you ask? 

Here's the science from Dr. Cottell "Staphylococci are usually harmless although they can cause boils and infections of cuts and grazes, and can also cause a form of acute food poisoning if they are ingested. It would be advisable not to wear them if working in industries such as healthcare or food preparation, where there is a risk that the bacteria may spread to other people."

Gross...