Ag-Mart Inc., one of Florida's largest vegetable growers, was ordered to pay $111,200 in fines for pesticide misuse in North Carolina and Florida.

The 88 citations included violations of regulations designed to ensure consumer and worker safety.

The violations were uncovered during an investigation into the births several months ago of three malformed babies to Mexican farmworkers in Immokalee. The babies' parents worked in Ag-Mart tomato fields in Florida and North Carolina and lived near each other during a critical time period.

The state Department of Health said this week that it found no definitive link between the agricultural chemicals and the birth defects, which left one baby without arms and legs and another with severe facial abnormalities. The third baby, born with multiple defects, died shortly after birth.

Ag-Mart has said it would voluntarily scale back its use of pesticides, incorporating many of the practices used on its organic farms into its traditional operations.

"Thank goodness that situation ... did not cause physical human disaster as everyone thought might be the case," state Agriculture Secretary Charles Bronson said. "But it doesn't lessen the fact that we need to be more vigilant on how we're using our pesticides when we go back into the field."

Pesticide labels specify how soon a crop can be harvested after chemicals are applied, as well as how soon workers can re-enter the fields.

Of the 88 violations cited by state officials, 65 involved harvesting crops before a required seven-day waiting period. In some cases, workers picked vegetables the day after they were sprayed.

Despite this, routine spot checks did not turn up illegal pesticide residues, according to agriculture officials.

Lawyer Andrew Yaffa, who represents the three families, called the health study "a non-investigation." He added, "Clearly they're looking for every reason to find no relationship to pesticides. Yet they can arrive at no other explanation."