[DefCon]

It wasn't elemental mercury that killed her,
(as the author would have us believe from the beginning of the article)
it was actually dimethylmercury.
This fact is buried in the following paragraph in the rather poorly written article:

"...How could they have known? Back in January, virtually nothing was known about the extraordinary dangers of dimethylmercury, the rare man-made compound Karen had spilled. Scientists didn't know it could seep through a latex glove like a drop of water through a Kleenex. Doctors didn't know it could break down the body over the course of a few months, slowly, insidiously, irreversibly..." (emphasis added)

[Publius6961]

This fact is buried in the following paragraph in the rather poorly written article:

Are we the only two who are certain that the camouflaging of this crucial fact is not accidental?