> so that the toxicity of plutonium is roughly equivalent with that of nerve gas

Is not exactly saying that it is not toxic. I tried looking for actually credible sources for toxicity, one Los Alamos publication claims:

> For example, the LD50(30) for dogs after intravenous injection of plutonium is about 0.32 milligram per kilogram of tissue.

Less than nerve gases, but still I'd classify as "quite toxic"

> ...after intravenous injection...

Nerve agents are very readily absorbed through the skin. Metallic plutonium is not. The context here is (at worst) people poking around the outside of slightly-damaged nuclear warhead.

Back in the day, I directly (metal-on-skin) handled lead totalling >1000X the human lethal dose...if administered via intravenous injection. No lethal effects were observed to occur.

Exactly. Don’t take a belt sander to it, or light it on fire, and you’re fine.

(Also, don't let it hang out with its friends.)