u/CrimsonFireSky

So quick context. This foam is inside little gem cases that my grandfather put some of his shell collection into in the late 60s/70s

Just recently I opened one up, and saw that the foam was soft and had stuck to a lot of the seashells, and on closer inspection, it looks like some of them have something on top of the foam.

It doesn't really look like mold, but idk what else it would be, other than maybe something coming out of the foam itself as it decomposed.

The foam is super chemically smelling, if that makes any difference.

It's already a pain in the ass that the foam is stuck to/stained several shells, but if it's toxic mold as well that'd just be icing on the cake 😑

And how deadly is it to have it sitting on the fireplace mantle if it is Realgar? 😅

Not sure where it was acquired, my grandfather was a rock hound.