You may think of rubber ducks as being cute toys that kids play with in the bath, but these little plastic bath toys are teeming with gross bacteria and are a breeding ground for microbes!

According to a new study published in the journal NPJ Biofilms and Microbiomes, and conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, ETH Zurich, and the University of Illinois, the inside of rubber ducks (and the opening at the bottom) are filled with bacteria. The bacteria found included Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which the authors note is “often implicated in hospital-acquired infections,” The Guardian reports.

According to The New York Times, “potentially pathogenic bacteria” can be found inside the rubber ducks which can cause eye, ear and stomach infections.

Another reason why these rubber ducks are so potentially dangerous is due to the plastic that has been used to make them, which provides food for the bacteria to grow. According to CNN, lead researcher Frederik Hammes told them, "All these soft plastic materials have softeners called plasticizers in them to make them flexible. (The plasticizers) migrate out of the plastic into the water. The bacteria like to eat them."

But researchers don’t want people to freak out horribly about these findings, and Hammes is not telling parents to stop buying the toys entirely because certain amounts of bacteria are not harmful to children with a healthy immune system. Instead, he wants parents to be aware of the bacteria and give these toys a regular cleaning. He told CNN, "The easiest answer is to wash the toy regularly with clean hot water and a bit of soap. Also, there are actually many toy ducks without a hole. Less fun, but certainly cleaner."

As for the makers of these rubber ducks, well, they may do well to take notes from this study which suggests using a higher-quality polymer to create the toys, which may prevent bacterial and fungal growth.

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