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A newly filed legal petition from twelve public health and agricultural labor groups is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to stop permitting the spraying of antibiotics on produce across the US, pointing to superbug spread and health risks to agricultural workers.

Farming Industry Sprays Large Quantities of Antimicrobial Pesticides

The agricultural sector applies about 8m lbs of antimicrobial and fungicidal treatments on American produce each year, with many of these substances banned in other nations.

“Every year Americans are at increased danger from harmful microbes and illnesses because human medicines are sprayed on produce,” said an environmental health director.

Antibiotic Resistance Presents Serious Public Health Threats

The overuse of antibiotics, which are critical for treating infections, as crop treatments on crops jeopardizes public health because it can cause antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In the same way, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can create fungal diseases that are more resistant with currently available medicines.

• Treatment-resistant illnesses affect about 2.8 million Americans and lead to about thirty-five thousand deaths per year.
• Health agencies have connected “clinically significant antibiotics” permitted for agricultural spraying to drug resistance, higher likelihood of staph infections and higher probability of MRSA.

Ecological and Health Impacts

Additionally, ingesting drug traces on food can alter the intestinal flora and elevate the likelihood of chronic diseases. These agents also contaminate water sources, and are considered to damage bees. Frequently poor and Latino farm workers are most at risk.

Common Agricultural Antimicrobials and Agricultural Methods

Farms use antibiotics because they kill pathogens that can ruin or kill crops. Among the most common antimicrobial treatments is a common antibiotic, which is often used in medical care. Data indicate up to 125,000 pounds have been applied on domestic plants in a single year.

Citrus Industry Pressure and Government Response

The petition comes as the Environmental Protection Agency encounters demands to widen the application of pharmaceutical drugs. The bacterial citrus greening disease, carried by the vector, is severely affecting fruit farms in southeastern US.

“I recognize their urgent need because they’re in serious trouble, but from a broader perspective this is certainly a clear decision – it should not be allowed,” the advocate commented. “The bottom line is the massive problems created by applying human medicine on edible plants significantly surpass the agricultural problems.”

Other Methods and Long-term Outlook

Experts suggest basic crop management steps that should be implemented before antibiotics, such as increasing plant spacing, cultivating more robust types of crops and identifying diseased trees and promptly eliminating them to halt the pathogens from transmitting.

The legal appeal provides the Environmental Protection Agency about half a decade to answer. In the past, the agency outlawed chloropyrifos in answer to a parallel legal petition, but a legal authority reversed the agency's prohibition.

The agency can implement a restriction, or has to give a justification why it will not. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a future administration, does not act, then the organizations can sue. The process could last over ten years.

“We are pursuing the extended strategy,” the advocate concluded.