A simple and sensitive method is described for the determination of picomolar amounts of C(1)-C(9) linear aliphatic aldehydes in waters containing heavy metal ions. In this method, aldehydes were first derivatized with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) at optimized pH 1.8 for 30 min and analyzed by HPLC with UV detector at 365 nm. Factors affecting the derivatization reaction of aldehydes and DNPH were investigated. Cupric ion, an example of heavy metals, is a common oxidative reagent, which may oxidize DNPH and greatly interfere with the determination of aldehydes. EDTA was used to effectively mask the interferences by heavy metal ions. The method detection limits for direct injection of derivatized most aldehydes except formaldehyde were of the order of 7-28 nM. The detection limit can be further lowered by using off-line C(18) adsorption cartridge enrichment. The recoveries of C(1)-C(9) aldehydes were 93-115% with a relative standard deviation of 3.6-8.1% at the 0.1 microM level for aldehydes. The HPLC-DNPH method has been applied for determining aldehyde photoproducts from Cu(II)-amino acid complex systems.