Arterial blood lactate was elevated by supine leg exercise (20 min at approximately 65% maximal oxygen uptake) in five untrained male subjects, and the contribution to blood lactate removal from passive uptake vs. metabolic disposal was compared in resting and lightly exercising (15% maximal voluntary contraction static handgrip) forearm skeletal muscle. An integrated form of the Fick equation was used to predict venous lactate levels resulting solely from passive equilibration of lactate between incoming arterial blood and the forearm muscles. In the resting forearm, predicted and measured venous lactate levels were closely correlated during the exercise period (r = 0.995, P < 0.001), indicating that lactate removal could be accounted for in terms of passive uptake alone. In the lightly exercising forearm, measured venous lactate levels were higher than both the arterial and predicted venous levels, indicating net lactate production. It was concluded that most of the blood lactate generated by moderate-intensity supine leg exercise is taken up passively and not metabolized by resting skeletal muscle and that the rate of lactate disposal is unlikely to be enhanced in lightly exercising muscle.