Cr(VI) is considerably toxic and the detoxification of Cr(VI) is of great importance. This study investigated the effect of iron on Cr(VI) reduction by Cellulomonas flavigena. The results demonstrated that addition of FeCl3 or lepidocrocite promoted Cr(VI) reduction, with the reduction ratio of above 90 and 80% achieved, respectively, but addition of hematite did not lead to the increase of reduction ratio, which suggests that the effect of iron on chromate reduction appears different with the diversity of iron-oxides. In this study, the effect of initial Cr(VI) and Fe(III) concentration on Cr(VI) reduction and the change of pH value were also investigated. The reduction ratio increased with the increase of the initial concentration ratio of Fe(III)/Cr(VI). The value of pH gradually increased from 7.0 to around 9.0. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.