The EPA also developed the "Fish Kids" awareness campaign for children and young adults  on account of the greater impact of mercury exposure to that population. Cleaning spilled mercury
Mercury thermometers and mercury light bulbs are not as common as they used to be, and the amount of mercury they contain is unlikely to be a health concern if handled carefully. However, broken items still require careful cleanup, as mercury can be hard to collect and it is easy to accidentally create a much larger exposure problem. If available, powdered sulfur may be applied to the spill, in order to create a solid compound that is more easily removed from surfaces than liquid mercury. Treatment
Identifying and removing the source of the mercury is crucial. Decontamination requires removal of clothes, washing skin with soap and water, and flushing the eyes with saline solution as needed. Chelation therapy
Chelation therapy for acute inorganic mercury poisoning, a formerly common method, was done with DMSA, 2,3-dimercapto-1-propanesulfonic acid (DMPS), D-penicillamine (DPCN), or dimercaprol (BAL). Only DMSA is FDA-approved for use in children for treating mercury poisoning. However, several studies found no clear clinical benefit from DMSA treatment for poisoning due to mercury vapor. No chelator for methylmercury or ethylmercury is approved by the FDA; DMSA is the most frequently used for severe methylmercury poisoning, as it is given orally, has fewer side-effects, and has been found to be superior to BAL, DPCN, and DMPS.
Youngs syndrome is believed to be a long-term consequence of early childhood mercury poisoning.Mercuric chloride may cause cancer as it has caused increases in several types of tumors in rats and mice, while methyl mercury has caused kidney tumors in male rats. The EPA has classified mercuric chloride and methyl mercury as possible human carcinogens (ATSDR, EPA)

Detection in biological fluids
Mercury may be measured in blood or urine to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized people or to assist in the forensic investigation in a case of fatal over dosage. Some analytical techniques are capable of distinguishing organic from inorganic forms of the metal. The concentrations in both fluids tend to reach high levels early after exposure to inorganic forms, while lower but very persistent levels are observed following exposure to elemental or organic mercury. Chelation therapy can cause a transient elevation of urine mercury levels. History
Neolithic artists using cinnabar show signs of mercury poisoning. Several Chinese emperors and other Chinese nobles are known or suspected to have died or been sickened by mercury poisoning after alchemists administered them "elixirs" to promote health, longevity, or immortality that contained either elemental mercury or (more commonly) cinnabar. Among the most prominent examples:
The first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang, it is reported, died in 210 BC of ingesting mercury pills that were intended to give him eternal life. Emperor Xuānzong of Tang, one of the emperors of the late Tang dynasty of China, was prescribed "cinnabar that had been treated and subdued by fire" to achieve immortality.