I think research has shown that those who are most susceptible to mercury poisoning are those who were exposed to it at a younger age. I found a quantity of it when I was a teenager, from a deceased doctor's bloodpressure device. I had about a cup full of it, and played with it for a long time, not knowing it could go right through my skin. Yikes!!
Yikes indeed! You have reminded me that I played with the mercury out of a broken thermometer when I was little. I probably touched it to see it dissipate into little globules, though my mother did tell me how dangerous mercury was. Rowena
