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A recent regulatory appeal from twelve health advocacy and farm worker groups is demanding the US environmental regulator to cease authorizing the application of antimicrobial agents on food crops across the United States, pointing to superbug proliferation and health risks to farm laborers.

Agricultural Industry Uses Substantial Amounts of Antimicrobial Crop Treatments

The farming industry applies about 8m lbs of antibiotic and antifungal treatments on US produce annually, with a number of these substances restricted in foreign countries.

“Each year the public are at elevated danger from dangerous microbes and infections because pharmaceutical drugs are used on produce,” commented a public health advocate.

Superbug Threat Creates Significant Public Health Threats

The excessive use of antibiotics, which are essential for treating infections, as crop treatments on crops endangers community well-being because it can result in superbug bacteria. In the same way, excessive application of antifungal agent pesticides can cause fungal infections that are more resistant with currently available medical drugs.

• Drug-resistant diseases sicken about 2.8m Americans and cause about thirty-five thousand fatalities annually.
• Regulatory bodies have linked “therapeutically critical antimicrobials” authorized for pesticide use to treatment failure, higher likelihood of pathogenic diseases and higher probability of MRSA.

Environmental and Public Health Impacts

Meanwhile, eating chemical remnants on produce can alter the human gut microbiome and increase the chance of long-term illnesses. These chemicals also contaminate water sources, and are considered to harm pollinators. Typically poor and minority agricultural laborers are most vulnerable.

Frequently Used Antibiotic Pesticides and Industry Practices

Growers spray antibiotics because they kill bacteria that can ruin or kill crops. One of the most frequently used agricultural drugs is a common antibiotic, which is often used in medical care. Data indicate as much as 125,000 pounds have been sprayed on American produce in a annual period.

Citrus Industry Influence and Regulatory Response

The petition is filed as the regulator faces urging to expand the use of pharmaceutical drugs. The bacterial citrus greening disease, spread by the insect pest, is severely affecting orange groves in the state of Florida.

“I understand their critical situation because they’re in serious trouble, but from a broader point of view this is definitely a no-brainer – it must not occur,” the advocate said. “The key point is the significant challenges generated by applying medical drugs on edible plants greatly exceed the agricultural problems.”

Other Solutions and Long-term Outlook

Specialists recommend simple agricultural steps that should be tried first, such as planting crops further apart, breeding more hardy varieties of produce and locating sick crops and promptly eliminating them to stop the pathogens from propagating.

The legal appeal provides the EPA about 5 years to act. In the past, the agency outlawed chloropyrifos in reaction to a comparable formal request, but a court reversed the regulatory action.

The agency can enact a restriction, or must give a justification why it refuses to. If the regulator, or a subsequent government, declines to take action, then the groups can take legal action. The process could require over ten years.

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