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A newly filed legal petition from a dozen public health and farm worker organizations is demanding the EPA to cease authorizing the spraying of antimicrobial agents on food crops across the US, pointing to antibiotic-resistant development and health risks to agricultural workers.

Farming Industry Uses Substantial Amounts of Antimicrobial Crop Treatments

The farming industry applies around 8 million pounds of antibiotic and antifungal chemicals on American plants every year, with a number of these chemicals banned in other nations.

“Annually US citizens are at greater danger from toxic pathogens and infections because pharmaceutical drugs are used on crops,” stated a public health advocate.

Antibiotic Resistance Presents Major Health Risks

The widespread application of antibiotics, which are essential for treating human disease, as agricultural chemicals on produce jeopardizes population health because it can lead to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In the same way, frequent use of antifungal pesticides can create mycoses that are more resistant with currently available medical drugs.

• Treatment-resistant illnesses affect about 2.8 million people and result in about thousands of deaths per year.
• Regulatory bodies have linked “medically important antibiotics” permitted for agricultural spraying to antibiotic resistance, greater chance of bacterial illnesses and elevated threat of MRSA.

Ecological and Public Health Consequences

Additionally, consuming antibiotic residues on produce can disrupt the intestinal flora and increase the chance of chronic diseases. These substances also taint water sources, and are considered to harm bees. Often low-income and Hispanic field workers are most exposed.

Frequently Used Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Practices

Growers spray antimicrobials because they destroy microbes that can harm or destroy crops. One of the most common antibiotic pesticides is streptomycin, which is often used in medical care. Figures indicate approximately 125k lbs have been sprayed on US crops in a annual period.

Agricultural Sector Lobbying and Government Action

The legal appeal coincides with the Environmental Protection Agency encounters demands to expand the utilization of medical antimicrobials. The bacterial citrus greening disease, carried by the vector, is severely affecting citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I recognize their desperation because they’re in serious trouble, but from a societal standpoint this is certainly a obvious choice – it must not occur,” the expert commented. “The fundamental issue is the significant issues created by spraying medical drugs on food crops significantly surpass the agricultural problems.”

Other Solutions and Long-term Prospects

Advocates suggest straightforward crop management measures that should be tested first, such as planting crops further apart, developing more disease-resistant varieties of produce and locating sick crops and promptly eliminating them to stop the diseases from transmitting.

The petition gives the regulator about 5 years to act. Several years ago, the regulator outlawed a chemical in answer to a parallel regulatory appeal, but a judge reversed the regulatory action.

The regulator can impose a ban, or has to give a explanation why it refuses to. If the regulator, or a future administration, does not act, then the organizations can sue. The legal battle could take over ten years.

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