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A newly filed legal petition from twelve health advocacy and agricultural labor organizations is calling for the EPA to discontinue authorizing the application of antibiotics on produce across the America, citing superbug spread and health risks to farm laborers.

Agricultural Industry Uses Substantial Amounts of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The agricultural sector applies about 8 million pounds of antimicrobial and fungicidal treatments on US plants each year, with several of these agents banned in international markets.

“Each year US citizens are at increased risk from toxic bacteria and infections because pharmaceutical drugs are sprayed on crops,” said a public health advocate.

Antibiotic Resistance Creates Significant Health Risks

The overuse of antibiotics, which are vital for treating human disease, as pesticides on crops threatens population health because it can lead to drug-resistant microbes. Likewise, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can lead to fungal diseases that are less treatable with present-day pharmaceuticals.

• Drug-resistant infections impact about 2.8m people and result in about 35,000 fatalities per year.
• Regulatory bodies have connected “therapeutically critical antimicrobials” approved for pesticide use to drug resistance, greater chance of pathogenic diseases and elevated threat of MRSA.

Environmental and Health Effects

Additionally, consuming drug traces on food can disrupt the intestinal flora and increase the chance of chronic diseases. These agents also taint water sources, and are thought to affect insects. Often poor and minority field workers are most vulnerable.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Methods

Agricultural operations spray antimicrobials because they eliminate pathogens that can ruin or destroy crops. One of the popular agricultural drugs is a common antibiotic, which is frequently used in medical care. Data indicate up to 125,000 pounds have been sprayed on domestic plants in a one year.

Agricultural Sector Influence and Government Action

The formal request comes as the regulator encounters pressure to increase the use of human antibiotics. The citrus plant illness, transmitted by the vector, is severely affecting citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I understand their critical situation because they’re in difficult circumstances, but from a societal point of view this is absolutely a no-brainer – it must not occur,” the expert commented. “The key point is the massive challenges created by applying pharmaceuticals on produce significantly surpass the agricultural problems.”

Alternative Methods and Future Outlook

Specialists recommend simple agricultural steps that should be tried before antibiotics, such as increasing plant spacing, breeding more disease-resistant strains of plants and locating diseased trees and rapidly extracting them to halt the infections from spreading.

The legal appeal gives the regulator about 5 years to respond. In the past, the agency banned chloropyrifos in reaction to a similar formal request, but a judge blocked the agency's prohibition.

The regulator can enact a prohibition, or is required to give a justification why it refuses to. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a future administration, fails to respond, then the coalitions can file a lawsuit. The legal battle could take more than a decade.

“We’re playing the extended strategy,” Donley remarked.