Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was applied to the determination of lead, arsenic, nickel and cobalt in high-purity iron oxide pigment. Samples were dissolved with hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The digest was passed through a column, which was packed with a polymer resin containing a neutral organophosphorus extractant, tri-n-butylphosphate. Iron was sorbed selectively on the resin and the analytes of interest passed through the column, allowing the effective separation of them from the iron matrix. Conditions of separation were optimized. The detection limits (3sigma) in solution were 10, 40, 7 and 5 microg L(-1), and in pigment were 0.2, 0.8, 0.14 and 0.1 mg kg(-1) for lead, arsenic, cobalt and nickel, respectively. The recoveries ranged from 95% to 107% when sample digests were spiked with 5 microg of the analytes of interest, and relative standard deviations (n=6) were 1.5-17.6% for the determination of the spiked samples. The method was successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of these elements in high-purity iron oxide pigment samples.