Yes, the mercury is a problem.
However, the one remaining man in Solo who still does this work is by all reports at least 80+ years old --- and he looks more than that.
It reminds me a bit of Empu Suparman and his warangan work. He used to grind up the warangan on the same mortar and pestle that his wife used to prepare spices for use in cooking.
But it wasn't the arsenic that killed him it was tobacco.
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