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A fresh legal petition from multiple health advocacy and agricultural labor coalitions is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to discontinue permitting the use of antimicrobial agents on produce across the United States, pointing to superbug spread and illnesses to agricultural workers.

Agricultural Sector Sprays Substantial Amounts of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The crop production uses around 8 million pounds of antimicrobial and fungicidal pesticides on US plants every year, with several of these chemicals prohibited in international markets.

“Each year Americans are at increased threat from toxic pathogens and infections because pharmaceutical drugs are applied on produce,” commented a public health advocate.

Superbug Threat Presents Major Public Health Dangers

The overuse of antimicrobial drugs, which are critical for treating human disease, as crop treatments on produce threatens community well-being because it can result in antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In the same way, frequent use of antifungal agent pesticides can cause fungal diseases that are less treatable with present-day pharmaceuticals.

• Drug-resistant illnesses affect about 2.8m Americans and cause about thirty-five thousand mortalities each year.
• Public health organizations have linked “medically important antimicrobials” approved for agricultural spraying to drug resistance, greater chance of staph infections and increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Environmental and Public Health Effects

Meanwhile, ingesting chemical remnants on crops can disrupt the human gut microbiome and increase the likelihood of chronic diseases. These chemicals also pollute water sources, and are believed to affect bees. Typically economically disadvantaged and Latino farm workers are most vulnerable.

Common Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Practices

Farms spray antimicrobials because they kill bacteria that can damage or wipe out crops. Among the popular antibiotic pesticides is a common antibiotic, which is frequently used in medical care. Figures indicate approximately 125k lbs have been used on US crops in a single year.

Citrus Industry Pressure and Government Action

The formal request is filed as the regulator encounters urging to increase the use of pharmaceutical drugs. The bacterial citrus greening disease, spread by the vector, is devastating citrus orchards in Florida.

“I appreciate their desperation because they’re in dire straits, but from a societal standpoint this is absolutely a no-brainer – it should not be allowed,” the advocate commented. “The bottom line is the significant problems generated by applying medical drugs on produce greatly exceed the agricultural problems.”

Alternative Solutions and Future Prospects

Specialists recommend simple farming measures that should be tried initially, such as planting crops further apart, developing more hardy types of crops and locating infected plants and quickly removing them to prevent the infections from transmitting.

The formal request provides the regulator about five years to answer. In the past, the organization prohibited a chemical in response to a parallel legal petition, but a court blocked the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can implement a restriction, or has to give a reason why it will not. If the EPA, or a subsequent government, does not act, then the groups can take legal action. The legal battle could require many years.

“We are engaged in the extended strategy,” the advocate concluded.