It’s been covered already - the danger was in you spilling the stuff, having it roll into a crack somewhere and produce low level vapor concentrations for years to come, cumulatively poisoning people who spend every day in the room.
There’s a park here in the South Bay called “Almaden Quicksilver” - there used to be a mercury mining operation up at the top of the hill there (cinnabar deposits are in evidence). If you hike up there you can take a look at the old smelter - thinking about how that thing operated in its heyday is enough to give you pause.
Not too much, thanks for askin’. What happens with you?
Anway, have your kids call a toxic chemicals disposal company. They might pay through the nose, but I’m sure it’s the most responsible thing to do.
When I was in 7th grade (I’m 20), our chemistry teacher passed around a plastic cup of mercury. I recall vividly that that was the day I decided to be a chemist, so maybe there is something to that myth of instant insanity.
My organic chemistry teacher told our class a story last year about his first lab experiences after college. It seems that some of the older chemists (this was in the 60s) would spill mercury and wipe it up. It would lodge in the cracks of the wooden lab tables and floors, and produce vapours.
That teacher seemed to become increasingly senile in the two years that I knew him, and last April left on medical leave. We were 3/4 of the way through Organic II.
