Summary of the panel discussions at the 2nd Symposium on Biodegradable Metals, Maratea, Italy, 2010

Corrosion testing of bioabsorbable metallic materials is important at material selection stage and for understanding their degradation mechanisms. A large variety of different corrosive media has been reported for evaluating degradation performance. This review takes magnesium as an example and focuses on discussing the advantages, shortcomings and applicability of commonly used corrosive media. The discrepancies between the published results disclosing Mg corrosion behavior often originate from non-comparable test media. This indicates the urgent need for verified corrosion test protocols. The media selection criteria are outlined. Additionally, the discussion extends to the other bioabsorbable metallic materials, such as zinc and iron.