Toxicological evaluation of MnAl based permanent magnets using different in vitro models

Due to economic, environmental and geopolitical issues, the development of permanent magnets with a composition free of rare earth elements and with acceptable magnetic properties has been considered a priority by the international community, being MnAl based alloys amongst the most promising candidates. The aim of this work was to evaluate the toxicity of powders of two forms of newly developed MnAl(C) permanent magnets through exposure experiments applying three model organisms, using as a benchmark powders of a commercial rare-earth-containing magnet (Nd2Fe14B). For this purpose, the direct exposure to the different particles suspensions as well as to magnets leachates was evaluated. Both viability and oxidative stress assays were applied in an adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cell line (A549) and in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, together with the bioluminescent inhibition assay in the Gram negative bacterium Vibrio fischeri. The obtained results indicate that MnAl(C) permanent magnets, in general terms, presented similar toxicity than the Nd magnet for the selected biological models under the studied conditions. Overall, the presented data provide, for the first time, an in vitro toxicity analysis of MnAl based magnets. [Display omitted] •Different organisms were used to study the toxicity of MnAl permanent magnets.•MnAl based magnets induced oxidative stress on A549 cells at short exposure times.•MnAl based magnets significantly affected yeast viability at 160 mg/L.•MnAl leachates showed to be safe for the organisms exposed.•Overall, MnAl(C) magnets showed a similar biological impact to that of a Nd magnet.