Japanese cedar wood powder (CWP) was chemically modified to a tertiary-amine-type adsorbent and studied for the selective recovery of Pd(II) from various industrial waters. Batch adsorption tests performed from 0.1 M to 5 M HCl and HNO3 systems reveal stable performance with better results in HNO3 medium. The maximum loading capacity for Pd(II) was studied in HCl as well as in HNO3. A continuous-flow experiment taking a real industrial solution revealed the feasibility of using modified CWP for the selective uptake and preconcentration of traces of palladium contained in acidic effluents. In addition, stable adsorption performance even on long exposure to c-irradiation and selective recovery of palladium from simulated high-level liquid waste (HLW) are important outcomes of the study. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.