Lindsay Patterson

Obviously it’s not something you want to do in public. But is it unhealthy to pick your nose and eat it?

New Scientist’s Last Word Blog picked up this question from a child and opened it up to the public. Many commentators replied with the obligatory “yucky.” A self-proclaimed 20-year picker-eater stated his belief that the practice might actually aid your immune system, because the bacteria trapped in the mucus are weakened or deactivated. So it’s kind of like administering a vaccine from nose to mouth, he claimed.

But an anonymous doctor responded, “From a Medical perspective, especially if you work or have been in a hospital recently, picking your nose and eating it is dangerous.” That’s because staph infections are inhaled and “incubated” in your nasal mucus.

It would be surprising (but welcome) to find scientific literature on the health impacts of eating your boogers. But there has been some research done on nose picking. A study of adolescent nose picking in schools found that all kids pick their nose, about 4 times a day. In a survey of 100 adults in Wisconsin, 91% admitted to picking their nose. But only 75% believed that “everyone does it.” (I infer here that the remaining 16% feel isolated and alone when they are picking their nose.)

And so while nose picking should be accepted as a universal activity, the study authors found a hidden danger. Two of the subjects spent anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours picking their noses. Such behavior can lead to a disorder called rhinotillexomania. That’s the technical term for compulsive nose picking resulting in severe nasal trauma.

That’s grosser than eating your boogers.

Meanwhile, the editor’s pick of booger answers confirmed that eating them probably isn’t the best thing, and you should keep to the Kleenex or traditional pick-and-throw techniques.

It is not for nothing that your nose hairs stop bugs and dust from landing in your lungs or gut. Blowing your nose would not stop everything, but it is better than guzzling snot.