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A recent formal request from twelve public health and agricultural labor groups is demanding the EPA to discontinue permitting the application of antibiotics on food crops across the US, pointing to superbug proliferation and illnesses to farm laborers.

Farming Sector Applies Millions of Pounds of Antimicrobial Crop Treatments

The farming industry sprays approximately 8m lbs of antibiotic and antifungal pesticides on US plants annually, with several of these chemicals restricted in international markets.

“Annually the public are at elevated risk from dangerous microbes and infections because medical antibiotics are applied on produce,” said a public health advocate.

Antibiotic Resistance Presents Major Health Dangers

The widespread application of antibiotics, which are critical for addressing human disease, as crop treatments on produce threatens public health because it can lead to superbug bacteria. Similarly, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can create fungal infections that are more resistant with present-day pharmaceuticals.

• Drug-resistant diseases affect about millions of people and result in about 35,000 fatalities annually.
• Public health organizations have associated “clinically significant antimicrobials” authorized for crop application to antibiotic resistance, higher likelihood of staph infections and increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Environmental and Health Consequences

Furthermore, eating drug traces on food can disturb the human gut microbiome and elevate the likelihood of long-term illnesses. These substances also taint aquatic systems, and are thought to harm pollinators. Often economically disadvantaged and Hispanic agricultural laborers are most vulnerable.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Methods

Growers spray antibiotics because they kill bacteria that can ruin or wipe out plants. One of the most common agricultural drugs is streptomycin, which is frequently used in clinical treatment. Figures indicate as much as 125k lbs have been sprayed on American produce in a one year.

Citrus Industry Influence and Regulatory Action

The petition coincides with the EPA experiences demands to increase the utilization of medical antimicrobials. The citrus plant illness, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, is destroying citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I appreciate their critical situation because they’re in dire straits, but from a broader standpoint this is absolutely a clear decision – it should not be allowed,” the expert stated. “The fundamental issue is the massive challenges created by using pharmaceuticals on edible plants significantly surpass the farming challenges.”

Alternative Methods and Future Outlook

Advocates recommend basic crop management actions that should be tested before antibiotics, such as planting crops further apart, developing more hardy types of plants and identifying infected plants and promptly eliminating them to stop the pathogens from transmitting.

The legal appeal gives the EPA about 5 years to act. Previously, the regulator prohibited chloropyrifos in answer to a comparable regulatory appeal, but a legal authority reversed the EPA’s ban.

The organization can implement a restriction, or has to give a justification why it will not. If the EPA, or a future administration, fails to respond, then the organizations can take legal action. The procedure could require more than a decade.

“We’re playing the long game,” the expert concluded.