Comparison of lead removal characteristics between two strains, Aureobasidium pullulans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and effects of extracellular polymeric substances(EPS) excreted by microorganisms on the removal of lead were investigated. The capacity of lead biosorption to A. pullulans which had EPS was increased as the storage time of the cells increased, due to the increased amounts of excreted EPS. When the EPS were removed from A. pullulans cells, the amounts of adsorbed lead were very small(10% of the cell with EPS). In the case of s. cerevisiae which had no EPS, the lead removal capacity was nearly constant with storage time except early stage, but the spending time to reach an equilibrium state decreased with increasing storage time because of lowering the function of cell membrane. Therefore, it seems that the phenomena of lead biosorption were remarkably affected by the presence of extracellular polymeric substances.