Biological impact tests on complex hydrides used as hydrogen storage materials

The mutagenicity of a series of the light element hydrides (containing NaAlH4, Mg(NH2)2, LiBH4, etc.) was examined by evaluating the frequency of mutation in bacterial DNAs. Although some materials were suspected to be slightly mutagenic, their effect was much less malignant than that of well-known potent mutagens. The hydrides exhibited high cytotoxicity, rather than mutagenicity. A Mg(NH2)2-related material was also subjected to a series of toxicity tests on aqueous organisms, i.e., algae, water fleas and fish. The result suggests that the material is as toxic as alkaline metal hydroxides, such as NaOH and KOH.