One of the main environmental concerns of today is the occurrence of arsenic in wastewater. Targeting a solution for this problem, several efforts have been made towards research and application of cost-effective and effortlessly adaptable processes. The ability of a biofilm of Bacillus arsenicus MTCC 4380 supported on sawdust/MnFe 2 O 4 composite to biosorb/ bioaccumulate As(III) and As(V) was investigated in batch experiments. Optimum biosorption/bioaccumulation conditions were determined as a function of contact time and temperature. The equilibrium was achieved after about 220 min at 30°C temperature. Nonlinear regression analysis was done to determine the best-fit kinetic model based on three correlation coefficients and three error functions and also to predict the parameters involved in kinetic models. The results showed that both Brouers-Weron-Sotolongo and Avrami models for both As(III) and As(V) were capable of providing realistic explanation of biosorption/bioaccumulation kinetic. Applicability of mechanistic models showed that the rate controlling step in the biosorption/bioaccumulation of both As(III) and As(V) was film diffusion rather than intraparticle diffusion. The estimated thermodynamic parameters ΔG 0 , ΔH 0 , and ΔS 0 revealed that biosorption/bioaccumulation of both As(III) and As(V) was feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic under examined conditions. The activation energy (E a ) estimated from Arrhenius equation specified the nature of biosorption/bioaccumulation being ion exchange type. The effect of co-existing ions such as Cu 2+ , Zn 2+ , Bi 3+ , Cd 2+ , Fe 3+ , Pb 2+ , Co 2+ , Ni 2+ , Cr 6+ , and SO 4 2− at different concentrations was inspected.