The optimum reaction parameters for the interaction of hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] with diphenylcarbazide in microfluidic chips (μFIA) with thermal-lens microscopic detection were selected. The characteristic feature of the applied flow scheme is the injection of the reagent into the stream containing the test metal, which enables in-field and real-time monitoring of Cr(VI) simply by flowing the sample continuously through the microchip. The limit of detection of Cr(VI) under the selected conditions (signal generating wavelength, 514.5 nm; excitation power, 100 mW; detection position, 10 cm downstream from the mixing zone of the microchip; flow rate 10 μL min -1 ; injection volume, 1.4 μL) is 15 ng mL -1 (2.9 × 10 -7 mol L -1 ). The linear range is 40 ng mL -1 -10 μg mL -1 with a relative standard deviation no higher than 10% in the concentration range 0.1-1 μg mL -1 . The online monitoring by this scheme provides the possibility of up to 360 analyses per hour.