Metallic mercury is relatively safe. It’s the oxides of mercury that bind easily to cells.
L
I didn’t know that.
Some day I’m going to have to learn how to post pictures on FR:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/iloasiapacific/35887661681/
Metallic mercury has a strong surface tension and does not normally evaporate to a significant degree. Very small droplets, however, do evaporate and become available for reaction. When you drop or smash a droplet of mercury, you can end up with a fracturing effect which create these mini and micro droplets. For metallic mercury it is these very tiny droplets which become mercury vapor that are a health danger.
But yes, it is overwhelmingly the oxides and other mercury compounds that are inherently dangerous.