A method for the determination of Hg, Pb and As concentrations in soil and sediment samples by the BCR and HG-ICP-AES technique was described. Under the optimum experimental conditions and instrumental operation parameters, the detection limits of Hg, Pb and As of the method were 0.6, 1.5 and 0.8 ng x mL(-1) , respectively. Meanwhile, the analytical results of Hg, Pb and As in the Chinese national standard sediment reference samples were in good agreement with the certified values with the RSDs below 8%. Using the BCR and HG-ICP-AES technique, the content of each chemical species of Hg, Pb and As in soils of nonferrous metal mine area in western Hunan province was studied. The result showed that the Hg, Pb and As contents in soils were dominated by residual form, followed by organic and Fe-Mn oxides form, whereas acid-exchangeable form was rather low. The concentrations of the four Hg species in mine soil were 1.2, 3.0, 47 and 272 times higher than those in the control soil. While the concentrations of Pb and As in the same samples were 1.2, 4.6, 8.1 and 4.5 times and 1.5, 2.9, 3.3 and 2.2 times higher than those in the control soil, respectively. The results indicated that the soil in mine area in western Hunan province was co-polluted polluted by Hg, Pb and As.