Study Proves Beer Pong Is Disgusting

Bros everywhere, watch your ping pong balls. Students at Clemson University tested Ping-Pong balls being used in beer pong games on their campus last fall, and found that most balls were just teeming with bacteria. Lovely.

The students crawled the campus and offered new, unused balls for those in use during weekend parties, the New York Daily News reports, finding that most used balls had salmonella, listeria, e. Coli, and staph that often ended up in the beer.

"Ninety percent of bacteria are probably harmless, but by virtue of sheer numbers, you're taking a chance of getting sick," food science professor Paul Dawson told NYDN.

Ping-Pong balls that were used in outdoor games often had the most bacteria (3 million organisms), while indoor balls played on carpet had about 200 bacteria organisms. When the students placed the pong balls into cups of beer, they found that most of the bacteria transferred into the brew. 

No word on whether rinsing the balls in-between throws actually works, but our advice is to swap out the cups of beer for water, chugging from your own cup. Or, you know, just figure out the rules to True American.