Vegetable Grower Hit with $111,200 in fines for pesticide misuse after babies born with deformities.

"PLANT CITY, Fla. -- Ag-Mart Inc., one of the state's largest vegetable growers, was ordered to pay $111,200 in fines for pesticide misuse by the state Department of Agriculture.

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. "

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Interesting..... I used to work at a children's hospital in the Central Valley of California. We used to see kids in batches with pretty rare congential heart defects. Stuff like Truncus Arteriosus, TAPVR etc. The common denominator? They worked on farms. Ill bet if you track pesticide usage and defects you get a huge correlation. Tried to do it as a staff nurse project, but the Pudlic Health department was not interested because its a big agricultural area?