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A newly filed legal petition from twelve public health and farm worker organizations is calling for the US environmental regulator to stop authorizing the use of antimicrobial agents on food crops across the US, citing superbug development and health risks to agricultural workers.

Farming Industry Applies Millions of Pounds of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The farming industry applies around substantial volumes of antibiotic and antifungal chemicals on American food crops annually, with several of these substances banned in foreign countries.

“Each year US citizens are at elevated danger from dangerous pathogens and infections because pharmaceutical drugs are used on crops,” commented a public health advocate.

Antibiotic Resistance Presents Major Public Health Threats

The excessive use of antibiotics, which are vital for treating human disease, as agricultural chemicals on produce endangers public health because it can result in superbug bacteria. Similarly, frequent use of antifungal treatments can lead to fungal infections that are harder to treat with existing medicines.

• Treatment-resistant illnesses affect about 2.8m Americans and lead to about 35,000 fatalities per year.
• Health agencies have linked “clinically significant antimicrobials” approved for pesticide use to drug resistance, higher likelihood of bacterial illnesses and elevated threat of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Ecological and Health Consequences

Additionally, consuming drug traces on produce can disturb the digestive system and elevate the likelihood of long-term illnesses. These chemicals also taint aquatic systems, and are believed to harm insects. Often low-income and Latino agricultural laborers are most exposed.

Common Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Practices

Farms apply antibiotics because they kill pathogens that can ruin or destroy plants. One of the popular agricultural drugs is a medical drug, which is often used in medical care. Estimates indicate as much as 125k lbs have been sprayed on American produce in a single year.

Citrus Industry Lobbying and Regulatory Action

The formal request comes as the EPA experiences pressure to expand the utilization of pharmaceutical drugs. The crop infection, transmitted by the insect pest, is severely affecting citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I understand their critical situation because they’re in dire straits, but from a societal point of view this is definitely a clear decision – it should not be allowed,” Donley commented. “The fundamental issue is the massive challenges created by spraying pharmaceuticals on edible plants significantly surpass the agricultural problems.”

Alternative Methods and Long-term Outlook

Specialists propose basic farming actions that should be tested before antibiotics, such as planting crops further apart, developing more hardy varieties of plants and identifying infected plants and promptly eliminating them to stop the infections from transmitting.

The legal appeal allows the Environmental Protection Agency about half a decade to answer. In the past, the regulator banned a pesticide in reaction to a similar regulatory appeal, but a legal authority blocked the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can enact a prohibition, or is required to give a reason why it will not. If the EPA, or a subsequent government, fails to respond, then the groups can take legal action. The legal battle could take more than a decade.

“We are pursuing the long game,” Donley concluded.