Comments submitted to EPA to urge the agency to deny the request from the Michigan Department of Agriculture for a specific exemption to use the pesticide gentamicin to control streptomycin-resistance fire blight. (Docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2006-0234).

KAW believes that the pesticide use of this highly important medical drug presents an avoidable and significant risk to public health. Indeed, we question whether highly important human drugs like gentamicin should ever be broadcast sprayed as pesticides, due to concerns about their contribution to antimicrobial resistance, and resultant threats to human health