and then hulled and finely ground. Samples (0.5 g) ofthe grains (unhulled rice, brown rice and polished rice) were digestedwith HNO3and H2O2(Freitas et al., 2004) and concentrations of Cd inthe digests were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The effects of Cd-tolerant bacteria on Cd accumulation in rice grains of the two different cultivars in the presence and absence of added Cd were analyzed. Migration of Cd in rice grainsunder different treatment conditions was also evaluated