Lead and cadmium removal from aqueous solution by batch ion exchange with a solid Na-Y zeolite has been studied under competitive and non-competitive conditions. The extent of heavy metal (KM) removal is found to be independent of the nature of the anion, and equilibrium exchange isotherms are presented for Na-Y treatment of lead and cadmium nitrate and chloride solutions at 293 K. An increase in solution phase HM concentration lowers the affinity of the zeolite for the in-going HM ion, but lead was preferred to the indigenous sodium ion over the entire range of initial metal concentration to zeolite weight ratios (0.3-13 x 10(-2) mol dm(-3) g(z)(-1)) that were studied. Lead removal was much greater than that of cadmium under identical experimental conditions and Na-Y exchange efficiency is Shown to increase in the order Ni2+ < Cu2+ < Cd2+ < Pb2+. Exchange selectivity is discussed in terms of metal ion hydration and siting within the zeolite framework. A Pb/Cd/Na-Y ternary exchange isotherm was constructed from 38 pairs of experimental points, and is treated quantitatively in terms of ternary and pseudo-binary separation factors. Treatment of the lead/cadmium solutions resulted in a greater depletion (by a factor of 2) of the lead component.