Trinitite was formed during the historic Trinity test of the world's first atomic bomb. Large amounts of desert sand and debris were vaporized into the mushroom cloud and the ground below was liquified into blobs. These blobs cooled and solidified into Trinitite. Collection of new Trinitite samples is now prohibited and access to the old testing site is blocked. The only Trinitite on the market is old stock from before the 1950's ban. This material is safe to own (stored properly) because the most dangerous isotopes have a short-life and they have since degraded into less-harmful decay products.
The specimen being offered here is a single fragment that comes with an ID label and acrylic gemjar. Note, each piece of trinitite is unique and your sample may vary slightly in appearance from the one shown. It will be of similar size.
Refer to the photo. The black centimeter cube is shown for scale and is not included.
A few more words about the safety and legality of Trinitite :
All of the most harmful radioactive materials in Trinitite have long since decayed into less-harmful decay products. For example, when fresh (right after formation), this material was "hot" with trace amounts of Plutonium. However, the hot isotopes in Trinitite have a short half-life, and after 50 years it is safe to responsibly own.
I keep my personal specimens in sealed acrylic gem jar or Riker boxes in my specimen cabinet. Do not handle it, and if you do, be sure to wash your hands afterwards and don't do anything that might crumble or break the Trinitite which could release dust.
Just to be clear for everyone - it is legal to own this material and it is legal to sell this material. It is also legal to ship small quantities of trinitite inside the US. It is *not* legal to go to the Trinity site, hop the fence, and dig up more material. All of the Trinitite on the market was gathered before the prohibition.
CAUTION - Keep trinitite away from children, pets, or curious hands. This is considered a collectible for advanced mineral collectors of radioactive ores and related materials.
