This was my thought as well - I&#x27;ve heard metallic mercury is relatively safe. However, a little bit of googling turned up this:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mercury_poisoning#Elemental_mercury" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Mercury_poisoning#Elemental_me...</a><p>The issue with metallic mercury is the vapors are easily absorbed through the lungs, and not easily filtered (requires an activated carbon filter).