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A recent legal petition from twelve public health and agricultural labor coalitions is urging the EPA to discontinue authorizing the use of antibiotics on food crops across the America, highlighting superbug spread and illnesses to agricultural workers.

Farming Industry Uses Substantial Amounts of Antibiotic Pesticides

The crop production uses approximately 8 million pounds of antibiotic and antifungal treatments on American plants every year, with a number of these chemicals banned in foreign countries.

“Annually the public are at elevated threat from harmful bacteria and infections because human medicines are used on plants,” commented an environmental health director.

Superbug Threat Presents Serious Health Threats

The excessive use of antimicrobial drugs, which are critical for treating human disease, as agricultural chemicals on produce jeopardizes population health because it can lead to drug-resistant microbes. Similarly, frequent use of antifungal agent treatments can create fungal diseases that are less treatable with currently available pharmaceuticals.

• Treatment-resistant infections sicken about millions of Americans and lead to about thousands of fatalities annually.
• Regulatory bodies have associated “medically important antibiotics” permitted for agricultural spraying to antibiotic resistance, increased risk of staph infections and increased risk of MRSA.

Ecological and Public Health Consequences

Additionally, ingesting chemical remnants on produce can alter the human gut microbiome and increase the chance of chronic diseases. These chemicals also pollute drinking water supplies, and are thought to affect pollinators. Typically poor and Latino agricultural laborers are most at risk.

Frequently Used Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Practices

Agricultural operations spray antimicrobials because they destroy bacteria that can harm or destroy crops. One of the most frequently used antimicrobial treatments is a common antibiotic, which is often used in clinical treatment. Figures indicate approximately significant quantities have been used on US crops in a single year.

Citrus Industry Lobbying and Regulatory Action

The formal request is filed as the Environmental Protection Agency experiences urging to increase the use of human antibiotics. The bacterial citrus greening disease, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, is destroying orange groves in the state of Florida.

“I recognize their critical situation because they’re in dire straits, but from a broader point of view this is definitely a no-brainer – it cannot happen,” the advocate said. “The bottom line is the significant issues generated by applying human medicine on produce significantly surpass the agricultural problems.”

Other Solutions and Future Outlook

Advocates suggest basic crop management measures that should be implemented before antibiotics, such as planting crops further apart, cultivating more robust strains of plants and detecting diseased trees and promptly eliminating them to stop the pathogens from propagating.

The petition provides the regulator about 5 years to act. Previously, the organization banned a pesticide in response to a comparable regulatory appeal, but a legal authority overturned the agency's prohibition.

The agency can impose a ban, or must give a explanation why it will not. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a subsequent government, declines to take action, then the groups can take legal action. The procedure could take over ten years.

“We’re playing the prolonged effort,” the advocate remarked.