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Hipsters everywhere were horrified by news this week that their much-loved facial hair may contain more faeces than a toilet.

The research argued that if the water system contained as much bacteria as the average beard, it would be shut down to be disinfected.

But experts are urging beard lovers not to reach for their razors just yet, as the results, they say, may have been misinterpreted.

The original research was based on segment from a TV news network in New Mexico, which involved a reporter swabbing a group of men's beards for testing in a lab.

Microbiologist, John Golobic from Quest Diagnostics, discovered enteric bacteria, which are the type of bacteria usually found living in the intestines.

'Those are the types of things you'd find in faeces,' he said.

'I'm usually not surprised, and I was surprised by this,' Golobic added.

According to Nick Evershed at the Guardian: 'While it's true human faeces are partially composed of gut bacteria, it's not accurate to describe those bacteria on their own as faeces.'

But despite these protests, there remains evidence that beards can spread bacteria.
Professor Anthony Hilton, head of biological and biomedical sciences at Aston University, said research has confirmed beards can spread bacteria.

Jezebel notes that water and cellulose can also be found in feces, but this doesn't mean that people can claim water is unhealthy, or that people should stop eating corn.

The study, published in the journal Anaesthesia, looked at whether surgical masks caught bacteria falling from surgeons faces, and whether having a beard affected how many bacteria fell.

'What they found was that men with beards do harbour a significant number of bacteria, more than non-bearded men and women,' Dr Hilton told MailOnline.

'And bearded surgeons wearing masks did shed more organisms from the beard outwards when they wiggled.'

However he added that while there is evidence beards are filled with bugs, there is no proof this leads to health problems.

'It's not uncommon to find 20,000 bacteria on the skin, and this isn't harmful,' he said
And other experts argue that beards are no less hygienic than a clean-shaven face. - See more at: http://ghana-news.adomonline.com/news/2015/May-5th/facial-hair-can-contain-more-faeces-than-a-dirty-toilet-study.php#sthash.4ajNl7gz.dpuf