By Bonnie Washuk,Staff Writer

AUGUSTA – Environmentalists called on Shaw’s and other grocery stores Thursday to post mercury warnings saying swordfish and tuna steaks are unsafe for children and women of child-bearing age to eat.

“Enough is known today that children, and women who are or might be pregnant, should not eat fish high in mercury,” said Jon Hinck of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. “Unfortunately, they’re not all getting that message. We’re urging retailers that sell fish to simply post the information so women will make informed choices.”

Parents need to know that because of mercury contamination, the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency advise women of child-bearing age and young children to not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, and to limit consumption of canned albacore tuna and fresh tuna to six ounces a week, Hinck said.

In response, Shaw’s spokeswoman Judy Chong said the grocery chain has mercury consumption advisories in the works. Shaw’s will offer brochures at seafood cases in all of its 200-plus stores in New England, Chong said. Hannaford spokeswoman Caren Epstein said Thursday that no decision had been made whether to post mercury warnings at Shop ‘n Save fish counters.

Meanwhile, the director of Maine’s Bureau of Health, Dr. Dora Mills, said she doesn’t favor mandating fish consumption warnings in stores. That would send a “skull and crossbones” signal, scaring away those who should eat fish, which is beneficial to heart health.

On Thursday the NRCM and the New England Zero Mercury Campaign released results of a study that took fish samples in 22 states. That study included two samples from two Shaw’s stores in Portland.

The fish samples from the Shaw’s store were not caught in Maine, but Singapore and Panama, Hinck said.

The results showed that mercury in the tuna averaged 0.33 parts per million, while the swordfish was higher, averaging 1.1 ppm. That amount of mercury makes that fish unhealthy for children and women of child-bearing age to eat.

Maine Toxicologist Andrew Smith said mercury levels found in the study are consistent with existing national test data. Tuna and swordfish are high-mercury fish because those fish live long lives, eat smaller fish and accumulate mercury from the environment, Smith said.

Maine’s top doctor, Mills, said that warning the public requires “a delicate balance,” and that she does not favor store warnings.

“Everybody will think, ‘Oh, it must be bad'” and they would stay away from fish, Mills said. “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer. Many nutrients in fish are very beneficial fighting heart disease. We don’t want blanket warnings that may reduce consumption of food critical in combating heart disease.”

Maine’s focus has instead been direct mailings to parents when they have a new baby and to women in doctor’s offices. The state is encouraging consumers to eat fish low in mercury, such as salmon and haddock, Mills said.

The NRCM is asking stores to join it in pushing for further steps to reduce mercury pollution.

Mercury enters the environment from power plants, as a result of the incineration of products that contain mercury. Forty-five states have advisories warning at-risk populations about eating mercury-contaminated fish.