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A fresh legal petition from a dozen health advocacy and agricultural labor groups is demanding the Environmental Protection Agency to discontinue authorizing the use of antibiotics on food crops across the US, pointing to superbug development and illnesses to agricultural workers.

Agricultural Industry Sprays Large Quantities of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The crop production applies around substantial volumes of antimicrobial and fungicidal pesticides on US food crops each year, with several of these agents banned in foreign countries.

“Each year US citizens are at elevated danger from dangerous bacteria and diseases because human medicines are applied on crops,” said Nathan Donley.

Superbug Threat Poses Significant Public Health Threats

The overuse of antimicrobial drugs, which are vital for addressing human disease, as agricultural chemicals on fruits and vegetables threatens public health because it can cause antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Likewise, excessive application of antifungal treatments can lead to mycoses that are more resistant with existing medical drugs.

• Drug-resistant infections sicken about millions of people and cause about thirty-five thousand mortalities each year.
• Regulatory bodies have connected “clinically significant antimicrobials” authorized for pesticide use to treatment failure, increased risk of staph infections and increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Environmental and Public Health Effects

Meanwhile, eating antibiotic residues on produce can disrupt the human gut microbiome and increase the risk of chronic diseases. These agents also contaminate water sources, and are considered to affect bees. Frequently poor and minority field workers are most exposed.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Agricultural Practices

Agricultural operations use antimicrobials because they kill microbes that can damage or kill crops. One of the popular agricultural drugs is a medical drug, which is commonly used in medical care. Estimates indicate up to 125k lbs have been applied on US crops in a single year.

Citrus Industry Lobbying and Regulatory Action

The formal request is filed as the Environmental Protection Agency faces demands to expand the utilization of pharmaceutical drugs. The bacterial citrus greening disease, carried by the insect pest, is severely affecting citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I recognize their urgent need because they’re in serious trouble, but from a broader point of view this is absolutely a clear decision – it must not occur,” the expert commented. “The fundamental issue is the massive issues caused by using human medicine on produce significantly surpass the farming challenges.”

Alternative Methods and Long-term Prospects

Advocates propose simple farming steps that should be implemented before antibiotics, such as planting crops further apart, developing more hardy types of plants and locating infected plants and rapidly extracting them to prevent the pathogens from propagating.

The formal request provides the EPA about five years to act. Several years ago, the agency prohibited chloropyrifos in reaction to a comparable regulatory appeal, but a court reversed the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can impose a ban, or is required to give a justification why it will not. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a future administration, declines to take action, then the groups can take legal action. The process could take more than a decade.

“We’re playing the prolonged effort,” Donley stated.