Chitosan itself has been prepared using chitin, one of the most abundant compounds in nature, as a starting material. We have synthesized the water-soluble chitosan derivative, N-dithiocarboxy chitosan sodium salt, through the reaction of water-soluble chitosan with carbon disulfide in the presence of alkali metal hydroxide. To elucidate this natural polymer capacity of adsorbing heavy metal ions, we have performed adsorption experiments using the water-soluble chitosan derivative various average molecular weight and of different percent contents of sulfur. The effect of pH, adsorption time and temperature on adsorption efficiency was also studied. The adsorbent derived from water-soluble chitosan of average molecular weight ranging 9,000~120,000 was shown to have the highest capacity of adsorbing heavy metal ions. On the whole, adsorbing efficiency was increased as the reaction time goes longer and also increased as the reaction temperture goes higer in temperture range of 15℃~45℃. The adsorption capacity at various pH, however, was appeared to vary depending on the heavy metal ions studied Judging from these finding, water-soluble N-dithiocarboxy chitosan sodium salt, a derivative of a biodegradable nature polymer, is believed to be a potential adsorbent for heavy metal ions since it not only is shown to lower the concentration of heavy metal ions to below the drainage quality standard, but also it would not cause acidification and hardening of soil which is one of the detrimental effects of synthetic macromolecular adsorbents present.