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A recent regulatory appeal from multiple health advocacy and farm worker groups is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to stop authorizing the application of antibiotics on food crops across the America, citing superbug spread and illnesses to agricultural workers.

Agricultural Sector Sprays Millions of Pounds of Antimicrobial Crop Treatments

The agricultural sector sprays around 8 million pounds of antibiotic and antifungal treatments on American plants each year, with a number of these agents banned in other nations.

“Each year the public are at greater threat from toxic microbes and illnesses because pharmaceutical drugs are sprayed on crops,” said an environmental health director.

Antibiotic Resistance Creates Significant Health Dangers

The widespread application of antimicrobial drugs, which are essential for addressing medical conditions, as agricultural chemicals on fruits and vegetables threatens public health because it can lead to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Similarly, excessive application of antifungal treatments can create fungal diseases that are harder to treat with currently available medical drugs.

• Treatment-resistant illnesses sicken about 2.8 million people and result in about 35,000 mortalities each year.
• Health agencies have associated “therapeutically critical antibiotics” permitted for agricultural spraying to treatment failure, greater chance of pathogenic diseases and increased risk of MRSA.

Environmental and Public Health Consequences

Additionally, consuming antibiotic residues on produce can disturb the human gut microbiome and increase the risk of long-term illnesses. These substances also pollute water sources, and are considered to affect insects. Typically low-income and Hispanic field workers are most at risk.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Practices

Agricultural operations apply antibiotics because they destroy microbes that can damage or wipe out plants. One of the popular antimicrobial treatments is a common antibiotic, which is commonly used in clinical treatment. Figures indicate approximately 125,000 pounds have been used on American produce in a one year.

Citrus Industry Lobbying and Regulatory Response

The legal appeal comes as the Environmental Protection Agency experiences pressure to widen the use of medical antimicrobials. The crop infection, transmitted by the Asian citrus psyllid, is severely affecting citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I recognize their critical situation because they’re in serious trouble, but from a public health standpoint this is absolutely a no-brainer – it cannot happen,” Donley stated. “The fundamental issue is the massive issues generated by applying medical drugs on food crops greatly exceed the agricultural problems.”

Other Methods and Future Prospects

Advocates propose simple farming steps that should be implemented first, such as increasing plant spacing, developing more hardy types of crops and identifying sick crops and promptly eliminating them to halt the pathogens from transmitting.

The legal appeal provides the regulator about 5 years to respond. In the past, the organization prohibited a chemical in response to a similar formal request, but a court blocked the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can impose a prohibition, or has to give a reason why it refuses to. If the regulator, or a subsequent government, fails to respond, then the groups can file a lawsuit. The process could require more than a decade.

“We are engaged in the prolonged effort,” the expert stated.