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A fresh legal petition from multiple public health and farm worker coalitions is urging the EPA to stop permitting the use of antibiotics on edible plants across the US, pointing to antibiotic-resistant proliferation and illnesses to farm laborers.

Farming Sector Applies Substantial Amounts of Antimicrobial Crop Treatments

The agricultural sector sprays about 8 million pounds of antimicrobial and fungicidal pesticides on American produce each year, with several of these substances restricted in international markets.

“Annually the public are at greater threat from dangerous bacteria and infections because human medicines are applied on produce,” said Nathan Donley.

Superbug Threat Poses Major Public Health Risks

The widespread application of antimicrobial drugs, which are essential for treating infections, as crop treatments on crops threatens population health because it can cause drug-resistant microbes. Likewise, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can create mycoses that are less treatable with present-day medical drugs.

• Antibiotic-resistant infections affect about 2.8m Americans and result in about thirty-five thousand deaths per year.
• Public health organizations have connected “medically important antibiotics” authorized for agricultural spraying to treatment failure, increased risk of bacterial illnesses and elevated threat of MRSA.

Ecological and Public Health Consequences

Additionally, eating chemical remnants on produce can alter the human gut microbiome and raise the risk of persistent conditions. These chemicals also taint water sources, and are considered to harm pollinators. Typically low-income and Latino farm workers are most exposed.

Frequently Used Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Methods

Agricultural operations apply antimicrobials because they destroy bacteria that can damage or destroy produce. Among the popular antibiotic pesticides is a medical drug, which is often used in medical care. Figures indicate as much as 125k lbs have been used on American produce in a annual period.

Agricultural Sector Lobbying and Regulatory Action

The legal appeal is filed as the EPA faces demands to increase the use of pharmaceutical drugs. The bacterial citrus greening disease, carried by the insect pest, is destroying citrus orchards in the state of Florida.

“I understand their desperation because they’re in difficult circumstances, but from a societal perspective this is definitely a obvious choice – it must not occur,” Donley said. “The key point is the massive problems created by spraying human medicine on food crops far outweigh the farming challenges.”

Alternative Solutions and Future Outlook

Advocates suggest simple farming measures that should be implemented initially, such as increasing plant spacing, breeding more robust varieties of produce and locating infected plants and rapidly extracting them to halt the pathogens from transmitting.

The petition provides the Environmental Protection Agency about 5 years to respond. In the past, the regulator banned chloropyrifos in reaction to a similar legal petition, but a legal authority reversed the regulatory action.

The organization can impose a ban, or must give a justification why it won’t. If the EPA, or a subsequent government, fails to respond, then the groups can sue. The process could take many years.

“We are pursuing the prolonged effort,” Donley concluded.