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A fresh legal petition from twelve health advocacy and agricultural labor organizations is urging the EPA to discontinue permitting the spraying of antibiotics on produce across the America, highlighting superbug proliferation and health risks to agricultural workers.

Farming Sector Applies Millions of Pounds of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The agricultural sector applies about 8m lbs of antibiotic and antifungal chemicals on American produce every year, with a number of these substances restricted in international markets.

“Annually Americans are at increased threat from dangerous microbes and illnesses because human medicines are applied on produce,” said Nathan Donley.

Antibiotic Resistance Poses Serious Public Health Threats

The widespread application of antimicrobial drugs, which are critical for combating human disease, as crop treatments on crops jeopardizes population health because it can result in antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In the same way, overuse of antifungal agent treatments can cause fungal infections that are less treatable with currently available medical drugs.

• Drug-resistant illnesses sicken about millions of Americans and cause about thirty-five thousand fatalities annually.
• Public health organizations have associated “clinically significant antibiotics” permitted for pesticide use to antibiotic resistance, higher likelihood of bacterial illnesses and increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Ecological and Health Impacts

Furthermore, ingesting chemical remnants on crops can alter the human gut microbiome and raise the likelihood of long-term illnesses. These agents also contaminate drinking water supplies, and are considered to damage bees. Frequently poor and minority farm workers are most exposed.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Methods

Farms spray antibiotics because they kill pathogens that can ruin or destroy plants. Among the popular agricultural drugs is a common antibiotic, which is commonly used in medical care. Estimates indicate approximately significant quantities have been used on American produce in a single year.

Citrus Industry Pressure and Regulatory Action

The petition is filed as the EPA faces urging to increase the use of human antibiotics. The citrus plant illness, carried by the insect pest, is destroying citrus orchards in the state of Florida.

“I recognize their desperation because they’re in serious trouble, but from a public health standpoint this is definitely a no-brainer – it should not be allowed,” the expert said. “The fundamental issue is the significant problems created by spraying medical drugs on produce far outweigh the agricultural problems.”

Other Methods and Future Outlook

Advocates propose simple crop management actions that should be tried before antibiotics, such as planting crops further apart, cultivating more robust strains of produce and detecting infected plants and quickly removing them to prevent the pathogens from propagating.

The petition allows the EPA about half a decade to act. In the past, the agency banned chloropyrifos in reaction to a parallel legal petition, but a court reversed the EPA’s ban.

The organization can implement a restriction, or is required to give a justification why it refuses to. If the regulator, or a future administration, declines to take action, then the groups can file a lawsuit. The process could take many years.

“We are pursuing the prolonged effort,” Donley stated.