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A fresh legal petition from twelve health advocacy and agricultural labor organizations is calling for the EPA to cease allowing the use of antimicrobial agents on produce across the US, pointing to superbug spread and illnesses to farm laborers.

Agricultural Industry Sprays Large Quantities of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The agricultural sector applies about 8m lbs of antimicrobial and fungicidal chemicals on American plants annually, with a number of these agents prohibited in foreign countries.

“Each year US citizens are at elevated danger from toxic bacteria and diseases because pharmaceutical drugs are sprayed on crops,” stated a public health advocate.

Superbug Threat Creates Significant Public Health Dangers

The widespread application of antimicrobial drugs, which are vital for treating human disease, as agricultural chemicals on fruits and vegetables endangers public health because it can result in superbug bacteria. Similarly, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can cause fungal diseases that are less treatable with existing medical drugs.

• Treatment-resistant diseases affect about 2.8 million individuals and lead to about 35,000 mortalities annually.
• Public health organizations have connected “medically important antimicrobials” authorized for crop application to drug resistance, higher likelihood of bacterial illnesses and increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Environmental and Health Consequences

Furthermore, eating drug traces on produce can disrupt the intestinal flora and elevate the risk of persistent conditions. These substances also taint drinking water supplies, and are considered to harm bees. Typically poor and Hispanic farm workers are most at risk.

Common Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Practices

Growers apply antibiotics because they eliminate bacteria that can harm or destroy plants. Among the most common antimicrobial treatments is a medical drug, which is often used in clinical treatment. Figures indicate up to 125,000 pounds have been sprayed on domestic plants in a one year.

Citrus Industry Influence and Government Action

The formal request comes as the EPA encounters demands to increase the use of human antibiotics. The crop infection, spread by the vector, is devastating orange groves in Florida.

“I understand their desperation because they’re in difficult circumstances, but from a societal point of view this is certainly a clear decision – it must not occur,” the expert said. “The fundamental issue is the significant problems generated by spraying human medicine on edible plants greatly exceed the agricultural problems.”

Other Approaches and Long-term Outlook

Advocates recommend straightforward crop management steps that should be tried initially, such as increasing plant spacing, cultivating more disease-resistant types of produce and locating infected plants and rapidly extracting them to stop the diseases from transmitting.

The formal request allows the regulator about 5 years to respond. In the past, the regulator prohibited chloropyrifos in response to a parallel legal petition, but a legal authority reversed the agency's prohibition.

The agency can implement a restriction, or is required to give a explanation why it refuses to. If the regulator, or a later leadership, declines to take action, then the organizations can file a lawsuit. The process could require more than a decade.

“We are pursuing the extended strategy,” the advocate stated.