8-Hydroxyquinoline immobilized on polyacrylonitrile hollow fiber membrane was synthesized and used for the preconcentration of rare earth elements (REEs) and the separation of the matrix in seawater prior to their determination by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Both the capacity and chemical stability of the modified polyacrylonitrile hollow fiber membrane have been evaluated. The optimum experimental conditions, such as pH, sample flow rate, volume of eluents, were investigated. The concentration of REEs in seawater and the separation of the matrix components can be achieved with a concentration factor of at least 300 times. The recommended method has been applied for the concentration and determination of REEs in coastal seawater. Results indicated that the recovery of REEs ranged from 91% to 107%, and the relative standard deviations were found to be less than 5%. A comparison was made between the REE levels determined by this method and the literature reports, and a reasonable agreement was obtained.With the widespread application of rare earth elements (REEs) in industry, agriculture, forestry and animal husbandry, much attention is now being paid to the study of REEs in the environment. However, the determination of REEs in seawater has always been a difficult task. The main restriction comes from the extremely low levels of REEs, which are below the detection limit of many instruments. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) occupies an invaluable position in the modern analytical laboratory due to its excellent sensitivity, precision and accuracy. Although it is especially suitable for trace muti-element determination and is applicable to a wide range of samples, its application to the analysis of saline water remains quite limited, mainly due to the high matrix concentration (approximately 3.5%) present in seawater, which prohibits its direct analysis by ICP-MS owing to the obvious problems of salt deposition on the torch, sampling interface, or ion lenses. Therefore, the development of a preconcentration technique is an important consideration for seawater analysis.A lot of preconcentration techniques have been proposed for the determination of metals in various environmental samples. Compared with the more traditional liquid-liquid extraction methods, solid-phase techniques have become increasingly popular. It is recognized that 8-hydroxyquinoline is a well characterized organic chelation ligand, which can form covalent compounds with over 60 metal ions under controlled pH conditions, and its preference for transition and heavy metal cations over alkali and alkaline-earth cations is well known.