{"id":34281,"date":"2024-01-08T00:01:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T05:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=34281"},"modified":"2024-01-06T15:46:44","modified_gmt":"2024-01-06T20:46:44","slug":"commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary: We Can and Must Stop Antibiotic Pesticide Use in the Interest of Public Health Worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, January 8, 2024) Despite successful litigation that stopped the unnecessary use of an antibiotic (streptomycin) in citrus production<\/a> in December 2023, the court\u2019s reasoning fails to grasp the science behind the biggest emerging threat to U.S. and global health\u2014antibiotic resistance. What is most disturbing and challenging is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for applying science in the protection of the public\u2019s health, misled the court on the overwhelming worldwide scientific consensus on the contribution of agricultural antibiotic use to the human death and disability rate linked to antibiotic resistance. On this subject, Beyond Pesticides has written extensively about horizontal gene transfer<\/a>, which explains the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria throughout the environment, ultimately making their way to people, as medically necessary drugs become ineffective. As we\u2019ve written, \u201cThe human pathogenic organisms themselves do not need to be sprayed by the antibiotic because movement of genes in bacteria is not solely \u201cvertical,\u201d that is from parent to progeny\u2014but can be \u201chorizontal\u201d\u2014 from one bacterial species to another.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

[Regarding the reliance of the court on EPA\u2019s misrepresentation of the science, the court found, \u201dEPA emphasized that ‘there is no data that antibiotic use in agriculture leads to the presence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria of human health concern,’ and that ‘[a]t the present time, there is little evidence for or against the presence of microbes of human health concern in the plant agricultural environment.'” And yet, on May 19, 2019, The New York Times<\/em> reported, \u201cThe agency [EPA] approved the expanded use [of streptomycin] despite strenuous objections from the Food and Drug Administration<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, which warn that the heavy use of antimicrobial drugs in agriculture could spur germs to mutate so they become resistant to the drugs, threatening the lives of millions of people.\u201d]<\/p>\r\n

Tell EPA and Congress that antibiotic pesticides must be eliminated.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

We like victories, so let\u2019s soak up the victory of the court decision and the protection it affords farmworkers in the short-term. Of note is the court finding, for procedural reasons, that EPA review of direct streptomycin exposure to pollinators \u201cdoes not pass muster.\u201d We have always said that when we protect pollinators and ecosystems, we protect people. But, now we must urgently zero in on how the nation\u2019s pesticide law, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), and the chemical-intensive agricultural practices it effectively promotes, is contributing to what can already be considered a worldwide pandemic. Yes, antibiotic resistance is another pandemic that some call the \u201csilent pandemic,\u201d but the numbers belie that characterization.<\/p>\r\n

Let\u2019s look at the numbers and the threat and then ask ourselves whether our federal agencies should be doing everything they can, from every perspective, to take action. It certainly is true that there is a confluence of factors that contribute to this worldwide pandemic, which will be the focus of a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level meeting on antimicrobial (e.g. bacterial<\/a> and fungal<\/a>) resistance (AMR) in September, 2024 in New York. However, we cannot afford to ignore any cause of resistance, given the health implications of ineffective treatments for bacterial and fungal diseases. While there are many statistics with a range of numbers that we cite, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> (CDC), \u201cMore than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur in the U.S. each year, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. When Clostridioides difficile\u2014a bacterium that is not typically resistant but can cause deadly diarrhea is associated with antibiotic use\u2014is added to these, the U.S. toll of all the threats in the report exceeds 3 million infections and 48,000 deaths.\u201d According to a 2021 article in Current Research in Microbial Sciences<\/em>, \u201cAntibiotic resistance in agriculture: Perspectives on upcoming strategies to overcome upsurge in resistance<\/a>,\u201d the leading consumers of antibiotics in developed countries are U.S. consumers. So, it would appear that the U.S. population may have the most to lose from antibiotic resistance.<\/p>\r\n

A report evaluating 204 countries published by the University of Washington\u2019s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation<\/a>, \u201cGlobal burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis,\u201d generated the following statistics:<\/p>\r\n

13.66 million people who died<\/strong> globally had sepsis as an immediate cause of death or in the chain of events leading to their death (intermediate cause).<\/p>\r\n

4.95 million people who died <\/strong>in 2019 suffered from drug-resistant infections, such as lower respiratory, bloodstream, and intra-abdominal infections.<\/p>\r\n

1.27 million deaths<\/strong> in 2019 were directly caused by AMR [antimicrobial resistance].<\/p>\r\n

1 in 5 people who died<\/strong> from AMR was a child under 5 years old, often from previously treatable infections.<\/p>\r\n

For those who prefer to talk about public health in economic terms, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N.<\/a>, the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance study found, \u201cIf action is not taken, the rise of AMR cumulatively may result in over 3.4 trillion USD loss in the world\u2019s annual gross domestic product (GDP) in ten short years.<\/p>\r\n

ReAct<\/a>, an independent worldwide network focused on antibiotic resistance, founded in 2005, has characterized the problem from perspectives around the world<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

ReAct Africa Director Mirfin Mpundu says:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAddressing antibiotic resistance effectively will require big changes \u2013 to governance, financing, systems transformation and the change of behaviors and practices. But at the end of the day the end goal must be to ensure that everyone who has a resistant infection, or requires surgery, or needs cancer treatment, or is born premature can in fact access effective antibiotics in the future \u2013 this is the expectation that we should all voice to governments from now to September next year.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\r\n

ReAct Europe Director Anna Sj\u00f6blom says:<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe UNGA High-level meeting must be a turning point in the global response to AMR \u2013 and more specifically to antibiotic resistance. Enough with the talk of \u2018a silent pandemic\u2019 \u2013 \u00a0antibiotic resistance is here now and is a global leading cause of suffering and unnecessary loss of lives across the world. The global response must finally start to reflect this fact.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Ultimately, EPA must get out in front and start thinking and acting holistically in its analyses and restrictions of pesticides. The challenge of antimicrobial resistance is an example of the agency moving along with a limited focus that undermines the protection of the environment and people, as existential crises continue to emerge\u2014whether it\u2019s the chemical-induced or exacerbated human health crises, biodiversity collapse, or the climate emergency. Even under existing law, EPA has the opportunity and responsibility to deem the adverse effects associated with petrochemical pesticide use related to these existential crises \u201cunreasonable\u201d (the statutory standard under FIFRA), given the availability of alternative practices, principally organic land management, that are viable, accessible, productive, profitable, and, most importantly, enabling of a livable future.<\/p>\r\n

Tell EPA and Congress that antibiotic pesticides must be eliminated.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Letter to EPA:<\/u><\/p>\r\n

Antimicrobial resistance is rising to dangerously high levels. In the May 1, 2022, issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Samira Choudhury, PhD, et al. write, \u201cOften referred to as the silent pandemic, antimicrobial resistance claims the lives of over 700,000 people annually.\u201d They continue, \u201cA study suggests that if no actions are taken, antimicrobial resistance will cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050 and an economic impact of over 100 trillion United States dollars.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

A federal district court decision blocked EPA\u2019s decision to register the antibiotic streptomycin for use in Florida citrus to control Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as \u201ccitrus greening,\u201d a plant disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, finding, \u201c[EPA] admits it did not comply with the ESA.\u201d The court also found that EPA failed to show that streptomycin would achieve benefits in preventing the disease. However, the court was not convinced that EPA fails to protect against the spread of antibiotic resistance and assumed that the restrictions that EPA required for personal protective equipment (PPE) and drift control would adequately mitigate risks.<\/p>\r\n

When antimicrobial pesticides are sprayed on a crop, they induce resistance in bacteria that are present by killing susceptible bacteria\u2014which may or may not be pathogenic\u2014allowing resistant bacteria to proliferate. The resistant bacteria move off the site on crops, workers, and the wind. Prevention of chemical drift is thus inadequate to protect against the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The fact of horizontal gene transfer means that antibiotic resistance genes in those (possibly harmless) bacteria can move to pathogens.<\/p>\r\n

In 2017, EPA\u00a0permitted use of these antibiotics in Florida citrus crops. In January 2019, EPA moved to make the authorization permanent, despite, according to the New York Times<\/em>, \u201cstrenuous objections from the\u00a0Food and Drug Administration\u00a0and the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which warn that the heavy use of antimicrobial drugs in agriculture could spur germs to mutate so they become resistant to the drugs, threatening the lives of millions of people.\u201d Two years prior oxytetracycline was approved for use on the same citrus crops.<\/p>\r\n

In addition to crops, antimicrobials are used to manage synthetic turf. A builder of sports facilities, American Athletic, states, \u201cBeyond surface cleaning, the artificial turf should be sanitized weekly or monthly to protect the players\u2019 and coaches\u2019 health. This disinfection requires special solvents, cleansers, and antimicrobial products to remove invisible particles and bacterial growth. You should strive to sanitize the field after every game and throughout the school day if it\u2019s used for physical education classes.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Finally, focusing on materials sold as antibiotics or antimicrobials is too shortsighted. First, science shows that use of any antibiotics anywhere can increase antibiotic resistance everywhere. Second, many pesticides not intended to kill microbes\u2014such as the herbicides glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba\u2014also induce antibiotic resistance in deadly human pathogens. Thus, we must stop broadcasting pesticides in the environment. The crisis in antibiotic resistance, which creates a threat of another pandemic, is ignored in the registration of pesticides. The antibiotic impacts of pesticides cited above were discovered only after the pesticides had been disseminated in the environment for decades.<\/p>\r\n

EPA must not register pesticides unless they have been demonstrated not to contribute to antibiotic resistance and must cancel the registration of those that do.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Thank you.<\/p>\r\n

Letter to U.S. Representative and Senators<\/u>:<\/p>\r\n

Antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels. In the May 1, 2022, issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Samira Choudhury, PhD, et al. write, \u201cOften referred to as the silent pandemic, antimicrobial resistance claims the lives of over 700,000 people annually.\u201d They continue, \u201cA study suggests that if no actions are taken, antimicrobial resistance will cause 10 million deaths per year by 2050 and an economic impact of over 100 trillion United States dollars.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

A federal district court decision blocked EPA\u2019s decision to register the antibiotic streptomycin for use in Florida citrus to control Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as \u201ccitrus greening,\u201d a plant disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid, citing failure to comply with the ESA and to show benefits. However, the court was not convinced that EPA fails to protect against the spread of antibiotic resistance and assumed that the restrictions that EPA required for personal protective equipment (PPE) and drift control would adequately mitigate risks.<\/p>\r\n

When antimicrobial pesticides are sprayed on a crop, they induce antimicrobial resistance in bacteria that are present by killing susceptible bacteria\u2014which may or may not be pathogenic\u2014allowing resistant bacteria to proliferate. The resistant bacteria move off the site on crops, workers, and the wind. Prevention of chemical drift is thus inadequate to protect against the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. The fact of horizontal gene transfer means that antibiotic resistance genes in those (possibly harmless) bacteria can move to pathogens.<\/p>\r\n

In 2017, EPA\u00a0permitted expanding use of these antibiotics in Florida citrus crops. In January 2019, EPA moved to make the authorization permanent, despite, according to the New York Times<\/em>, \u201cstrenuous objections from the\u00a0Food and Drug Administration\u00a0and the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which warn that the heavy use of antimicrobial drugs in agriculture could spur germs to mutate so they become resistant to the drugs, threatening the lives of millions of people.\u201d Two years prior oxytetracycline was approved for use on the same citrus crops.<\/p>\r\n

In addition to crops, antimicrobials are used to manage synthetic turf. A builder of sports facilities, American Athletic, states, \u201cBeyond surface cleaning, the artificial turf should be sanitized weekly or monthly to protect the players\u2019 and coaches\u2019 health. This disinfection requires special solvents, cleansers, and anti-microbial products to remove invisible particles and bacterial growth. You should strive to sanitize the field after every game and throughout the school day if it\u2019s used for physical education classes.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Finally, focusing on materials sold as antibiotics or antimicrobials is too shortsighted. First, science shows that use of any antibiotics anywhere can increase antibiotic resistance everywhere. Second, many pesticides not intended to kill microbes\u2014such as the herbicides glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba\u2014also induce antibiotic resistance in deadly human pathogens. Thus, we must stop broadcasting pesticides in the environment. The crisis in antibiotic resistance, which creates a threat of another pandemic, is ignored in the registration of pesticides. The antibiotic impacts of pesticides cited above were discovered only after the pesticides had been disseminated in the environment for decades.<\/p>\r\n

Please ensure EPA does not register pesticides unless they have been demonstrated not to contribute to antibiotic resistance and cancels the registration of those that do.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Thank you.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2024) Despite successful litigation that stopped the unnecessary use of an antibiotic (streptomycin) in citrus production in December 2023, the court\u2019s reasoning fails to grasp the science behind the biggest emerging threat to U.S. and global health\u2014antibiotic resistance. What is most disturbing and challenging is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for applying science in the protection of the public\u2019s health, misled the court on the overwhelming worldwide scientific consensus on the contribution of agricultural antibiotic use to the human death and disability rate linked to antibiotic resistance. On this subject, Beyond Pesticides has written extensively about horizontal gene transfer, which explains the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria throughout the environment, ultimately making their way to people, as medically necessary drugs become ineffective. As we\u2019ve written, \u201cThe human pathogenic organisms themselves do not need to be sprayed by the antibiotic because movement of genes in bacteria is not solely \u201cvertical,\u201d that is from parent to progeny\u2014but can be \u201chorizontal\u201d\u2014 from one bacterial species to another.\u201d [Regarding the reliance of the court on EPA\u2019s misrepresentation of the science, the court found, \u201dEPA emphasized that ‘there is no data that antibiotic use in agriculture leads to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249,367,439,354,556,6,1,544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-antibiotic-resistance","category-antimicrobial","category-environmental-protection-agency-epa","category-fungal-resistance","category-international","category-uncategorized","category-united-nations"],"yoast_head":"\nCommentary: We Can and Must Stop Antibiotic Pesticide Use in the Interest of Public Health Worldwide - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Commentary: We Can and Must Stop Antibiotic Pesticide Use in the Interest of Public Health Worldwide - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2024) Despite successful litigation that stopped the unnecessary use of an antibiotic (streptomycin) in citrus production in December 2023, the court\u2019s reasoning fails to grasp the science behind the biggest emerging threat to U.S. and global health\u2014antibiotic resistance. What is most disturbing and challenging is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for applying science in the protection of the public\u2019s health, misled the court on the overwhelming worldwide scientific consensus on the contribution of agricultural antibiotic use to the human death and disability rate linked to antibiotic resistance. On this subject, Beyond Pesticides has written extensively about horizontal gene transfer, which explains the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria throughout the environment, ultimately making their way to people, as medically necessary drugs become ineffective. 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The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. 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What is most disturbing and challenging is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), responsible for applying science in the protection of the public\u2019s health, misled the court on the overwhelming worldwide scientific consensus on the contribution of agricultural antibiotic use to the human death and disability rate linked to antibiotic resistance. On this subject, Beyond Pesticides has written extensively about horizontal gene transfer, which explains the movement of antibiotic resistant bacteria throughout the environment, ultimately making their way to people, as medically necessary drugs become ineffective. As we\u2019ve written, \u201cThe human pathogenic organisms themselves do not need to be sprayed by the antibiotic because movement of genes in bacteria is not solely \u201cvertical,\u201d that is from parent to progeny\u2014but can be \u201chorizontal\u201d\u2014 from one bacterial species to another.\u201d [Regarding the reliance of the court on EPA\u2019s misrepresentation of the science, the court found, \u201dEPA emphasized that ‘there is no data that antibiotic use in agriculture leads to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2024-01-08T05:01:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AntibioticResistance2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"Commentary: We Can and Must Stop Antibiotic Pesticide Use in the Interest of Public Health Worldwide","datePublished":"2024-01-08T05:01:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/"},"wordCount":2233,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AntibioticResistance2.jpg","articleSection":{"0":"Agriculture","1":"Antibiotic Resistance","2":"Antimicrobial","3":"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)","4":"Fungal Resistance","5":"International","7":"United Nations"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2024\/01\/commentary-we-can-and-must-stop-antibiotic-pesticide-use\/","name":"Commentary: We Can and Must Stop Antibiotic Pesticide Use in the Interest of Public Health Worldwide - 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