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Removing toxic Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution by the peels of citrus reticulate (mandarin orange), a fruit industry waste, presents suitable scale-up possibilities. The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) studies reflected that the mandarin orange peel powder had a porous surface area (32.46 m²g⁻¹), average pore size and pore volume was 38.6 Å and 0.402 cm³g⁻¹, respectively, favorable for binding Pb(II) ions. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed C-Br stretching, primary alcohol (C-O), phenolic O-H, and carbodimide N = C = N bands primarily helped to bind Pb(II) ions. The study evaluated and optimized the parametric influences of pH, adsorbate and biosorbent concentration, contact time and temperature on the removal efficiency of Pb(II) ions. A maximum of 97.08% Pb(II) was removed from 20 mg L⁻¹ solution when 2.5 g L⁻¹ adsorbent was …