[Leica] Question about old photo paper

[deveney.marty at saugov.sa.gov.au (Deveney, Marty (PIRSA))]

Photo papers manufactured when cadmium was used as a chemical preservative
last very well.  I bought a box of Velox with a use-by date in the 1950s
which still makes nice contact prints.  Projection-speed papers degrade more
quickly, but can still be useable for decades after their use-by date if
kept in a reasonable environment (not too hot, humid or dry).  FB papers
last better than RC, in my experience, though this may be less evident with
modern RC papers.  

Papers manufactured after the EU and US laws prohibiting the addition of
cadmium emulsions have very short use-by dates and they degrade quickly.
These laws were the reason that Kodak discontinued Ektalure (probably judged
as too low-demand a product to redevelop a cadmium-free version) and other
products (e.g. Forte Polygrade and Polywarmtone) changed in the last decade.

The last cadmium paper is Fomatone Classic - recent batches purchased from
Fotoimpex still definitely contain cadmium.