To the editor:

Recently it has been reported that a policy advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration says that the FDA should do a better job of warning pregnant women and parents of small children about the risks of eating seafood that contains mercury. The reason being that mercury, even in small doses, can be detrimental to brain development in fetuses and very young children.

Also recently the Centers for Disease Control had been advising everyone to get a flu shot. Especially pregnant women and children 6-23 months old. According to the Institute for Vaccine Safety all U.S.-made stocks of flu vaccine contain 25 micrograms per 0.5 milliliter of mercury (in the form of the preservative thimerosal), which is a large amount in comparison to the mercury levels in tuna.

Perhaps if the FDA could advise the CDC and flu vaccine manufacturers about mercury then next year we could have a mercury-free form of flu vaccine. We should be protecting children from disease without the dosing them with mercury at the same time.

Paul N. Longabach,

Lawrence