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A recent legal petition from twelve public health and farm worker coalitions is demanding the US environmental regulator to cease permitting the use of antibiotics on edible plants across the US, highlighting superbug proliferation and health risks to farm laborers.

Agricultural Sector Uses Millions of Pounds of Antimicrobial Pesticides

The crop production applies about substantial volumes of antibiotic and antifungal chemicals on American plants each year, with a number of these chemicals banned in foreign countries.

“Annually the public are at greater risk from dangerous microbes and diseases because pharmaceutical drugs are used on plants,” commented an environmental health director.

Superbug Threat Presents Major Health Threats

The excessive use of antibiotics, which are critical for addressing human disease, as crop treatments on crops endangers population health because it can cause antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Similarly, excessive application of antifungal pesticides can lead to fungal diseases that are harder to treat with existing medical drugs.

• Treatment-resistant infections impact about millions of Americans and result in about thirty-five thousand fatalities each year.
• Public health organizations have connected “clinically significant antibiotics” approved for crop application to drug resistance, greater chance of pathogenic diseases and increased risk of antibiotic-resistant staph.

Environmental and Health Effects

Additionally, consuming chemical remnants on food can disturb the intestinal flora and raise the risk of chronic diseases. These chemicals also taint water sources, and are believed to damage insects. Typically low-income and minority farm workers are most at risk.

Common Antibiotic Pesticides and Agricultural Methods

Agricultural operations use antibiotics because they destroy pathogens that can ruin or destroy produce. One of the most common antimicrobial treatments is a medical drug, which is commonly used in medical care. Estimates indicate up to 125k lbs have been used on American produce in a one year.

Citrus Industry Pressure and Government Response

The petition comes as the regulator experiences pressure to widen the utilization of pharmaceutical drugs. The citrus plant illness, transmitted 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 perspective this is definitely a no-brainer – it should not be allowed,” the expert commented. “The fundamental issue is the significant issues created by applying medical drugs on edible plants significantly surpass the farming challenges.”

Alternative Solutions and Future Outlook

Experts propose basic agricultural measures that should be tested first, such as planting crops further apart, cultivating more hardy varieties of crops and locating diseased trees and rapidly extracting them to prevent the pathogens from propagating.

The petition provides the EPA about five years to respond. In the past, the organization prohibited chloropyrifos in reaction to a similar legal petition, but a court overturned the EPA’s ban.

The regulator can enact a ban, or has to give a justification why it will not. If the Environmental Protection Agency, or a future administration, declines to take action, then the coalitions can file a lawsuit. The legal battle could require more than a decade.

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