Antibiotic Use in Agriculture Sparks Health Concerns Amid Resistance Fears

Public health and agricultural groups are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the spraying of antibiotics on food crops in the United States. This call comes amid rising concerns about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, commonly referred to as superbugs, which are linked to the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture.

According to The Guardian, over eight million pounds of antibiotic and antifungal pesticides are sprayed on U.S. food crops annually, many of which are banned in other countries. Nathan Donley, director of environmental health science at the Center for Biological Diversity, states that this practice threatens public health and contributes to the emergence of superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics essential for treating human diseases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that antibiotic-resistant infections sicken approximately 2.8 million people and result in about 35,000 deaths per year in the U.S. The EPA has approved the use of medically important antibiotics on crops, which the CDC has linked to increased risks of staph infections and MRSA.

Documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act revealed that a 2017 CDC study raised alarms about the risks associated with expanding antibiotic use on citrus crops, particularly in light of the bacterial citrus greening disease, which is devastating Florida's citrus orchards.

Despite the desperation of farmers, Donley argues that pumping more medically important antibiotics onto crops could lead to greater societal disasters in the long run. He emphasizes that the problems created by this practice far outweigh agricultural challenges, suggesting alternative crop management strategies such as planting crops further apart, breeding disease-resistant varieties, and promptly removing diseased trees.

The petition filed by the public health and farm worker groups gives the EPA five years to respond. If the agency fails to act, the groups may pursue legal action, a process that could extend for more than a decade.

This issue highlights the critical intersection of agriculture and public health, particularly as low-income and Latino farm workers are often at the highest risk. The situation raises significant questions about food safety and the efficacy of antibiotics, underscoring the need for a cautious approach to antibiotic use in both human medicine and agriculture.