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A newly filed formal request from multiple health advocacy and farm worker coalitions is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency to stop authorizing the use of antimicrobial agents on food crops across the America, pointing to superbug proliferation and illnesses to farm laborers.

Agricultural Industry Sprays Substantial Amounts of Antibiotic Crop Treatments

The farming industry applies around 8 million pounds of antimicrobial and fungicidal pesticides on US plants each year, with many of these agents prohibited in foreign countries.

“Each year the public are at increased threat from harmful pathogens and diseases because medical antibiotics are used on crops,” commented an environmental health director.

Antibiotic Resistance Presents Major Health Threats

The widespread application of antibiotics, which are critical for treating medical conditions, as agricultural chemicals on fruits and vegetables endangers public health because it can result in antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In the same way, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can create fungal diseases that are less treatable with present-day pharmaceuticals.

• Drug-resistant infections affect about 2.8 million individuals and lead to about 35,000 deaths annually.
• Public health organizations have linked “therapeutically critical antibiotics” permitted for crop application to antibiotic resistance, greater chance of staph infections and elevated threat of MRSA.

Ecological and Health Impacts

Additionally, ingesting chemical remnants on crops can alter the human gut microbiome and increase the risk of long-term illnesses. These chemicals also taint aquatic systems, and are thought to affect pollinators. Frequently low-income and minority field workers are most at risk.

Common Agricultural Antimicrobials and Agricultural Practices

Agricultural operations spray antimicrobials because they kill microbes that can harm or wipe out plants. Among the popular agricultural drugs is streptomycin, which is frequently used in medical care. Estimates indicate approximately 125,000 pounds have been applied on American produce in a single year.

Agricultural Sector Influence and Government Response

The formal request is filed as the regulator experiences pressure to widen the use of medical antimicrobials. The crop infection, carried by the Asian citrus psyllid, is destroying fruit farms in southeastern US.

“I understand their desperation because they’re in difficult circumstances, but from a broader standpoint this is certainly a clear decision – it should not be allowed,” the advocate said. “The bottom line is the significant issues caused by using pharmaceuticals on food crops greatly exceed the crop issues.”

Alternative Methods and Future Outlook

Advocates propose simple farming actions that should be tested before antibiotics, such as increasing plant spacing, developing more hardy varieties of produce and locating diseased trees and rapidly extracting them to halt the pathogens from propagating.

The formal request gives the regulator about half a decade to respond. In the past, the agency banned chloropyrifos in reaction to a comparable regulatory appeal, but a legal authority blocked the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can enact a ban, or is required to give a justification why it will not. If the EPA, or a subsequent government, declines to take action, then the organizations can take legal action. The procedure could require more than a decade.

“We are engaged in the prolonged effort,” the expert concluded.