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A recent regulatory appeal from multiple public health and farm worker coalitions is calling for the US environmental regulator to stop allowing the application of antimicrobial agents on edible plants across the United States, pointing to superbug proliferation and illnesses to farm laborers.

Agricultural Industry Applies Millions of Pounds of Antibiotic Pesticides

The agricultural sector sprays about 8 million pounds of antibiotic and antifungal chemicals on American food crops every year, with several of these agents prohibited in foreign countries.

“Each year the public are at increased risk from harmful pathogens and infections because medical antibiotics are sprayed on crops,” said an environmental health director.

Superbug Threat Poses Serious Public Health Threats

The overuse of antimicrobial drugs, which are vital for treating human disease, as crop treatments on produce threatens population health because it can lead to drug-resistant microbes. Likewise, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can lead to mycoses that are more resistant with existing pharmaceuticals.

• Antibiotic-resistant infections sicken about millions of people and cause about thousands of fatalities per year.
• Regulatory bodies have connected “therapeutically critical antimicrobials” approved for agricultural spraying to drug resistance, greater chance of pathogenic diseases and increased risk of MRSA.

Environmental and Health Impacts

Furthermore, consuming antibiotic residues on food can disturb the human gut microbiome and elevate the chance of chronic diseases. These chemicals also contaminate aquatic systems, and are believed to damage insects. Typically poor and Hispanic field workers are most exposed.

Frequently Used Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Methods

Farms use antimicrobials because they destroy bacteria that can harm or kill produce. One of the most frequently used antibiotic pesticides is streptomycin, which is often used in medical care. Figures indicate approximately 125,000 pounds have been applied on American produce in a one year.

Agricultural Sector Lobbying and Regulatory Action

The formal request coincides with the EPA faces urging to widen the utilization of human antibiotics. The citrus plant illness, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, is devastating orange groves in the state of Florida.

“I appreciate their urgent need because they’re in dire straits, but from a public health perspective this is definitely a clear decision – it should not be allowed,” the expert said. “The bottom line is the massive issues caused by using medical drugs on food crops far outweigh the crop issues.”

Other Solutions and Long-term Prospects

Specialists propose basic agricultural actions that should be tested initially, such as planting crops further apart, breeding more hardy varieties of plants and locating sick crops and quickly removing them to halt the diseases from propagating.

The petition gives the Environmental Protection Agency about five years to respond. Several years ago, the organization banned chloropyrifos in response to a comparable legal petition, but a legal authority blocked the EPA’s ban.

The agency can enact a prohibition, or is required to give a reason why it refuses to. If the EPA, or a future administration, fails to respond, then the groups can take legal action. The process could take more than a decade.

“We are engaged in the long game,” the expert remarked.