Hazardous waste sites are commonly contaminated with both organic and metal pollutants. Many metal pollutants have been shown to inhibit organic pollutant biodegradation. We investigated the ability of a mortified, polydentate cyclodextrin (carboxymethyl-beta-cyclodextrin, CMCD) to reduce the toxicity of 33.4 mu M cadmium, cobalt or copper during naphthalene degradation by a Burkholderia sp. in 120 h aerobic, batch studies. The highest investigated concentration of CMCD, 3340 mu M, reduced cadmium, cobalt, and copper toxicity. With each metal, the length of the lag phase was reduced (by as much as 108 h with cobalt or copper), the cell yield was increased (by as much as a factor of 16 with cobalt), and the growth rate was increased (by as much as a factor of 31 with cobalt). The degrader was unable to use CMCD as the sole source of carbon and energy. Our data suggest that the ability of CMCD to complex metals plays an important role in its ability to mitigate metal toxicity and that CMCD has the potential to enhance biodegradation in organic and metal co-contaminated environments. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.