A non-growing living biomass of the acidophilic bacterium Thiobacillus ferrooxidans exhibited a high cadmium uptake capacity dependent on pH, on the physiological state and on the nature of the biomass. Thus an uptake (0.21 g cadmium g−1 dry weight) was obtained at pH 1.6 with a non adapted cadmium biomass, harvested in the end of the exponential phase of growth. This uptake was increased up to 0.31 g g−1 by a biomass tolerant to 0.5 M Cd.