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A newly filed regulatory appeal from a dozen public health and farm worker coalitions is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to discontinue allowing the spraying of antimicrobial agents on edible plants across the US, citing antibiotic-resistant development and illnesses to agricultural workers.

Farming Industry Applies Large Quantities of Antimicrobial Crop Treatments

The crop production uses about 8m lbs of antimicrobial and fungicidal treatments on US food crops every year, with several of these chemicals restricted in international markets.

“Every year the public are at elevated threat from toxic microbes and diseases because human medicines are sprayed on crops,” commented Nathan Donley.

Superbug Threat Poses Major Public Health Risks

The excessive use of antimicrobial drugs, which are critical for addressing infections, as agricultural chemicals on produce endangers population health because it can lead to antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Similarly, excessive application of antifungal treatments can cause mycoses that are harder to treat with present-day pharmaceuticals.

• Treatment-resistant infections sicken about 2.8 million individuals and result in about 35,000 mortalities annually.
• Health agencies have linked “clinically significant antibiotics” authorized for crop application to antibiotic resistance, greater chance of bacterial illnesses and increased risk of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Ecological and Public Health Effects

Furthermore, ingesting antibiotic residues on food can disrupt the human gut microbiome and raise the chance of chronic diseases. These chemicals also taint water sources, and are considered to affect pollinators. Often low-income and minority agricultural laborers are most vulnerable.

Frequently Used Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Methods

Growers use antimicrobials because they kill pathogens that can harm or wipe out plants. Among the popular agricultural drugs is streptomycin, which is commonly used in healthcare. Figures indicate as much as 125k lbs have been used on domestic plants in a one year.

Agricultural Sector Pressure and Government Response

The petition coincides with the EPA experiences demands to expand the application of human antibiotics. The bacterial citrus greening disease, spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, is devastating citrus orchards in southeastern US.

“I understand their critical situation because they’re in serious trouble, but from a public health standpoint this is certainly a obvious choice – it cannot happen,” the expert commented. “The fundamental issue is the significant challenges generated by spraying human medicine on produce significantly surpass the crop issues.”

Alternative Solutions and Long-term Prospects

Advocates suggest straightforward farming actions that should be tested first, such as planting crops further apart, breeding more robust varieties of plants and identifying infected plants and quickly removing them to halt the pathogens from propagating.

The petition gives the EPA about half a decade to act. Several years ago, the regulator prohibited a chemical in response to a comparable formal request, but a legal authority blocked the agency's prohibition.

The regulator can enact a prohibition, or has to give a reason why it won’t. If the regulator, or a subsequent government, declines to take action, then the organizations can sue. The process could require over ten years.

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