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A newly filed legal petition from multiple public health and agricultural labor groups is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to discontinue authorizing the use of antimicrobial agents on produce across the United States, pointing to superbug spread and health risks to farm laborers.

Agricultural Sector Uses Large Quantities of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The crop production sprays about substantial volumes of antibiotic and antifungal treatments on American produce each year, with several of these chemicals restricted in foreign countries.

“Every year the public are at greater risk from toxic pathogens and diseases because pharmaceutical drugs are applied on plants,” commented an environmental health director.

Antibiotic Resistance Creates Serious Health Risks

The widespread application of antimicrobial drugs, which are vital for treating human disease, as crop treatments on crops jeopardizes community well-being because it can lead to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Similarly, excessive application of antifungal treatments can lead to fungal infections that are less treatable with present-day medical drugs.

• Drug-resistant diseases impact about millions of Americans and result in about thirty-five thousand deaths each year.
• Regulatory bodies have linked “medically important antibiotics” permitted for pesticide use to treatment failure, increased risk of pathogenic diseases and elevated threat of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Ecological and Health Consequences

Furthermore, eating antibiotic residues on food can alter the human gut microbiome and increase the likelihood of chronic diseases. These agents also pollute drinking water supplies, and are thought to damage insects. Often economically disadvantaged and Latino agricultural laborers are most vulnerable.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Agricultural Practices

Growers apply antimicrobials because they destroy pathogens that can harm or kill produce. Among the popular antimicrobial treatments is a medical drug, which is commonly used in medical care. Data indicate as much as 125,000 pounds have been used on US crops in a one year.

Citrus Industry Lobbying and Regulatory Response

The formal request comes as the EPA experiences demands to expand the application of medical antimicrobials. The citrus plant illness, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, is devastating orange groves in Florida.

“I appreciate their urgent need because they’re in difficult circumstances, but from a public health perspective this is definitely a no-brainer – it should not be allowed,” Donley commented. “The bottom line is the enormous issues created by spraying medical drugs on food crops far outweigh the crop issues.”

Alternative Solutions and Long-term Outlook

Advocates recommend straightforward agricultural steps that should be implemented first, such as increasing plant spacing, cultivating more hardy varieties of produce and identifying sick crops and quickly removing them to stop the infections from transmitting.

The legal appeal provides the EPA about 5 years to act. In the past, the agency outlawed a chemical in response to a parallel regulatory appeal, but a judge overturned the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can impose a prohibition, or is required to give a explanation why it will not. If the EPA, or a later leadership, fails to respond, then the coalitions can take legal action. The legal battle could require over ten years.

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