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A recent regulatory appeal from a dozen public health and agricultural labor groups is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to discontinue authorizing the use of antimicrobial agents on produce across the America, pointing to superbug spread and health risks to farm laborers.

Agricultural Sector Applies Millions of Pounds of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The agricultural sector uses approximately 8m lbs of antibiotic and antifungal treatments on US food crops annually, with several of these substances banned in international markets.

“Each year US citizens are at increased risk from harmful microbes and illnesses because medical antibiotics are used on produce,” said an environmental health director.

Antibiotic Resistance Creates Serious Public Health Threats

The widespread application of antimicrobial drugs, which are vital for combating medical conditions, as agricultural chemicals on fruits and vegetables threatens public health because it can result in drug-resistant microbes. Likewise, excessive application of antifungal agent pesticides can create fungal infections that are less treatable with present-day pharmaceuticals.

• Antibiotic-resistant diseases affect about 2.8 million Americans and lead to about thousands of fatalities annually.
• Public health organizations have linked “therapeutically critical antimicrobials” authorized for pesticide use to treatment failure, higher likelihood of bacterial illnesses and higher probability of antibiotic-resistant staph.

Environmental and Health Effects

Furthermore, consuming antibiotic residues on crops can disrupt the human gut microbiome and increase the risk of chronic diseases. These agents also contaminate water sources, and are thought to harm pollinators. Often low-income and Latino field workers are most exposed.

Common Agricultural Antimicrobials and Industry Methods

Agricultural operations spray antibiotics because they destroy pathogens that can ruin or destroy crops. One of the popular antimicrobial treatments is a common antibiotic, which is frequently used in clinical treatment. Data indicate as much as 125k lbs have been applied on domestic plants in a one year.

Agricultural Sector Lobbying and Regulatory Action

The formal request comes as the EPA experiences demands to expand the use of human antibiotics. The crop infection, spread by the vector, is severely affecting orange groves in the state of Florida.

“I recognize their desperation because they’re in difficult circumstances, but from a broader standpoint this is certainly a clear decision – it must not occur,” the expert commented. “The bottom line is the massive challenges generated by using human medicine on edible plants far outweigh the agricultural problems.”

Other Approaches and Future Prospects

Experts suggest basic agricultural measures that should be tested first, such as planting crops further apart, breeding more hardy strains of plants and locating infected plants and rapidly extracting them to prevent the infections from transmitting.

The petition allows the Environmental Protection Agency about half a decade to respond. Several years ago, the organization outlawed chloropyrifos in response to a comparable legal petition, but a legal authority reversed the regulatory action.

The organization can enact a ban, or has to give a justification why it won’t. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a future administration, does not act, then the groups can sue. The process could take more than a decade.

“We’re playing the extended strategy,” Donley concluded.