Ni2+/2-Nitroso-1-naphthol-4-sulfonic acid precipitate was used for the coprecipitation of Co, Pb, Cu, Fe and Zn prior to their flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS) determinations in environmental samples. The precipitate could be easily dissolved with concentrated nitric acid. The recovery values for analyte ions were higher than 95%. The parameters including pH, sample volume, centrifuge time, amounts of nickel and matrix effects were optimized for the quantitative recoveries of the analytes. The relative standard deviations of cobalt, lead, copper, iron and zinc were found 4.5, 5.7, 3.8. 6.1 and 7.5%, respectively. The limit of detection was calculated as 1.05, 2.67, 1.30, 1.38, and 0.50 mu g L-1 for cobalt, lead, copper, iron and zinc. The validation of the procedure was checked by the analysis of IAEA 336 lichen and SLRS 4 Riverine water standard reference materials were analyzed with satisfactory results. The presented coprecipitation procedure was successfully applied to some environmental samples for determination of analyte ions. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.