EPA Proposes Use of 650,000 Pounds of Antibiotics Per Year on Citrus Fields
If that proposal is approved, citrus growers could spray more than
650,000 pounds of the antibiotic streptomycin on citrus fields every
year to treat the bacteria that causes citrus greening disease.
Streptomycin belongs to a class of antibiotics considered critically
important to human health by the World Health Organization. By contrast,
people in America only use 14,000 pounds of that antibiotic class each
year.
650,000 pounds of the antibiotic streptomycin on citrus fields every
year to treat the bacteria that causes citrus greening disease.
Streptomycin belongs to a class of antibiotics considered critically
important to human health by the World Health Organization. By contrast,
people in America only use 14,000 pounds of that antibiotic class each
year.
“The more you use antibiotics, the greater the risk that
bacteria resistant to the drugs will flourish and spread. The bottom
line is that the potential problems created by spraying massive amounts
of streptomycin on citrus fields could outweigh the original problem the
EPA wants to solve,” said Matt Wellington, U.S. PIRG’s Stop the Overuse
of Antibiotics campaign director.