In vitro safety evaluation of rare earth-lean alloys for permanent magnets manufacturing.

Due to their exceptional physico-chemical and magnetic characteristics, rare earth (RE) permanent magnets are applied in multiple critical technologies. However, several environmental and economic difficulties arising from obtaining RE elements have prompted the search of alternatives with acceptable magnetic properties but containing a lower percentage of these elements in their composition. The aim of this work was to perform a preliminary toxicological evaluation of three forms of newly developed RE-lean alloys (one NdFeTi and two NdFeSi alloys) applying different in vitro assays, using as a benchmark a commercial NdFeB alloy.