yeah (in agreement with several comments above). if she really felt sick after just touching it, it wasn’t the mercury.
one of many possible sources:
What Happens If You Touch Mercury?
Kelly, can you handle this? Yes, even if it’s mercury.
Image Credit: Lost_in_translation/Shutterstock.com
Mercury is known for its toxicity and for causing health problems around the world and throughout history. But humans are very curious about what’s dangerous and so the question comes up often: Can you touch mercury with your bare hands safely? The answer, surprisingly, is yes.
Mercury is not absorbed through our skin, so it is ok to touch it without suffering any ill effects. Mercury has a viscosity between that of water and whole milk, but a much higher density. It’s 13 times as dense as water so a major surprise would be just how heavy a few drops of mercury in the palm of your hand would be. …
