Cadmium is one of the greatest actors of environmental pollution due to its high toxicity, threatening plants, animals and humans beings. The use of biomass as a sorbent material for cadmium removal seems to be a promising alternative to existing technologies. The objective of this work was to determine the adsorption capacity of coconut shell powder (Cocos nucifera) for cadmium in a continuous system of biosorption, and also the desorption of the metal from the biomass, so that this material could be used in a new cycle of biosorptiondesorption. A fixed bed column was chosen, as it does not present clogging problems and is easy to operate. The influence of flow rate and its direction, bed height and the efficiency of the process with series columns were evaluated. The functional groups present on the surface of the biomass were studied by infrared spectroscopy analysis.The column experiments with different bed heights and initial concentration revealed that the best efficiency was obtained with higher bed heights (18 cm) and lower initial concentrations (19 mg/l). Breakthrough time of 150 minutes was obtained for solutions with a flow rate of 22 ml/min, generating a solution with final concentration of 2.6 mg/l. A removal efficiency of 46% was obtained when working with initial concentrations of 19 mg/l. The process becomes more efficient when the solution is pumped upward through the columnEDTA was an excellent elutant for desorption of metal ions in the biomass in a batch system. The biomass was subjected to four biosorption-desorption cycles, presenting higher than 70% desorption efficiencies and removal efficiencies of more than 85% in all cases.The functional groups presents on the particle surface of the biomass are mainly carboxyl, hydroxyl, amine and amide groups. The results show that the powder of coconut shell has the appropriate characteristics for biosorption of cadmium in a continuous process using columns of fixed bed, which can be used as an alternative to conventional processes for effluent decontamination.