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A recent legal petition from a dozen public health and farm worker groups is urging the EPA to cease authorizing the spraying of antimicrobial agents on food crops across the America, highlighting superbug proliferation and illnesses to agricultural workers.

Agricultural Sector Uses Large Quantities of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The crop production sprays about 8 million pounds of antimicrobial and fungicidal pesticides on American food crops annually, with several of these agents restricted in international markets.

“Every year US citizens are at greater danger from dangerous microbes and diseases because medical antibiotics are used on plants,” said a public health advocate.

Antibiotic Resistance Presents Serious Public Health Threats

The excessive use of antibiotics, which are essential for treating human disease, as crop treatments on produce endangers population health because it can result in superbug bacteria. Similarly, excessive application of antifungal agent pesticides can lead to fungal diseases that are harder to treat with currently available pharmaceuticals.

• Antibiotic-resistant diseases affect about 2.8m Americans and cause about thirty-five thousand mortalities per year.
• Health agencies have associated “clinically significant antibiotics” permitted for crop application to treatment failure, greater chance of bacterial illnesses and elevated threat of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Environmental and Public Health Impacts

Furthermore, ingesting antibiotic residues on produce can disturb the intestinal flora and increase the likelihood of long-term illnesses. These agents also pollute drinking water supplies, and are considered to harm insects. Frequently low-income and Latino field workers are most vulnerable.

Common Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Practices

Growers use antibiotics because they destroy bacteria that can ruin or kill crops. One of the popular agricultural drugs is streptomycin, which is often used in healthcare. Figures indicate as much as significant quantities have been used on American produce in a annual period.

Citrus Industry Pressure and Regulatory Response

The petition coincides with the EPA encounters urging to increase the utilization of human antibiotics. The crop infection, spread by the vector, is severely affecting orange groves in southeastern US.

“I appreciate their urgent need because they’re in serious trouble, but from a societal point of view this is absolutely a no-brainer – it cannot happen,” the advocate commented. “The bottom line is the enormous issues caused by spraying medical drugs on food crops significantly surpass the farming challenges.”

Other Approaches and Long-term Prospects

Advocates propose simple farming steps that should be tested initially, such as increasing plant spacing, developing more robust strains of plants and identifying sick crops and quickly removing them to stop the pathogens from transmitting.

The formal request allows the regulator about five years to act. Previously, the regulator prohibited a chemical in reaction to a parallel regulatory appeal, but a court overturned the agency's prohibition.

The regulator can implement a prohibition, or must give a explanation why it will not. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a later leadership, fails to respond, then the groups can take legal action. The procedure could take more than a decade.

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