GERMANY: A Berlin man claims that handling 10-euro banknotes
has made him impotent. Mr Wolfang Fritz (55) spent hours last January
counting money his girlfriend inherited after the couple withdrew it all
in 10-euro notes. Mr Fritz says he hasn't had an erection since handling
the money. He is demanding the German government supply him with the erectile
disfunction-drug, Viagra.

“The euro notes made me sick. It just won't
go up anymore,” he told Berlin tabloid BZ. Mr Fritz has engaged a
lawyer to fight his case, blaming the impotence on the chemical Tributyl-Zinn
found in the 10-euro notes.

Each note contains 740 mcg of the chemical that, in sufficient
quantity, can affect the human hormone system. “The amount in euro
notes cannot lead to acute hormonal disturbances,” said hormone specialist
Prof Dietrich Klingmüller.
© The Irish Times