V1...
Mercury is a persistent environmental toxin... and is only mildly toxic to skin... as is. But young kids have a bad habit of not washing their hands often... and these mercury residues will transfer to clothing and whatever-else they touch... especially lips, noses and eyes kids are prone to rub and poke-into. Obviously a small amount of mercury, like you mentioned, for a short exposure, can be treated as incidental. but that incidental contact has a way of remaining in the environment. Where mercury is most hazardous is when mercury vapor fumes are inhaled [broken mercury vapor lights] and prolonged exposure or ingestion. Knowledge is crucial. H*ll, back in the, 1960s and into the 1970s lead based paints and asbestos were common... and now we know why kids suffered the worst... scale of intake was so relatively larger than adults.
OH yeah... in the 1960s, while dad was building his T-18, I remember dad and I holding cad/chromate coated steel bolts, nuts and washers in our mouths when we needed an extra hand. If I recall correctly, John Thorp explained the basic health problem due to cadmium and chromates... used on parts and in paints for corrosion protection. STOP IT!
I think the summer of 1975, I was looking for a job, engineering related. Unfortunately at the height of the aerospace crash of the 1970 there was nothing. EXCEPT I found an industrial battery manufacture/rebuild/recycle company in LA looking for young guys like me. During the interview, when they mentioned I would need to have wear special clothing and take a blood test every month for lead toxicity... I went... Huhhhhhhh... then declined the job.
V1... I'll take a swing... even though You were [obviously] a very young child during the 1970s, you lived in a region of the US during these times, that was relatively unaffected by air pollution... including acid rain. In the succeeding years, air and water quality improved dramatically due to environmental regulations with teeth.
I'm an early 1950s-year-model who experienced Jr-High thru High school in SoCal [LA basin] during the 1960s and 1970s and suffered thru weeks-long Stage 3 SMOG conditions. People who did NOT experience these conditions simply cannot understand how they were truly terrible due to extended poor air quality.
The dirty 'smoky/sooty' air with visibility less than 2-miles was common... and my young lungs hurt constantly by burning and congestion... and I remember the coughing and sneezing from tight-chests and constant sinus problems... and also eye irritation and watering... that went along with it all. OH YEAH... Everything outdoors developed a fine film of adherent sooty-grime. Indoor pollution was barely noticeable because it was overall better and safer to us kids... since the heavier-sooty-grime stayed mostly outside of buildings/homes. Mom was constantly cleaning this grime from entry ways and telling-us to bathe/shower every day. Dammm, even remembering SMOG from the 1960s and 1970s makes me remember it was NOT so great times. Outdoor sports were often delayed/postponed for health.
NOTE.
THE ABSOLUTE WORST SMOG I ever encountered was at Yokota AB, Kanto Plain, Japan, summertime, 1995 or 1996... Far worse than stage 3 SMOG conditions in SoCal. IT was indescribably bad air quality. Even the GIs I worked with would rotate for short outdoor duty on jets to avoid prolonged exposure... except for supervisors [poor b*stards]. Visibility was down to less-than a 1/4-mile and running outdoors for more than a few minutes was completely impossible... drained everything from You and left You gasping.
I’m Kinda wondering how many of You have really lived in heavy SMOG. Hmmmm, it has been forever that I’ve heard the term ‘SMOG’ on the news or weather. I guess the term now is simply ‘poor air quality’. SMOG is a 4-letter word.