A new flow-injection procedure has been developed for the determination of salicylic acid based on the enhancement of the chemiluminescence from the cerium(IV)-Tween 20 reaction by salicylic acid in acidic medium. The method is simple, selective and sensitive with a detection limit of 2.5x10(-9) g mL(-1). It is applicable to the determination of salicylic acid in the concentration range of 4.0x10(-9)-1.1x10(-6) g mL(-1). The relative standard deviation (RSD) is 0.85% for 4.0x10(-7) g mL(-1) salicylic acid (n=11). The method has been successfully applied to the determination of salicylic acid in bactericidal solutions. Furthermore, it is suggested that light emission from cerium(IV)-Tween 20 reaction is probably because of the formation of singlet oxygen 1O2* and the emitter is excited oxygen molecular pairs O2(1delta(g))O2(1sigma(g)-).