A method for the determination of dissolved species of Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in sea water by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) is described. Prior to analysis by AAS, these elements are concentrated by coprecipitation with iron pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate at pH 3 because of matrix effects and their low concentration levels in sea water. The detection limits are 0.01, 0.04, 0.02, 0.05, 0.08, and 0.03$mu extrm{g}$/l, and the relative standard deviations are 1.0, 2.4, 1.3, 2.9, 2.0 and 2.9% for Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn, respectively. The method is shown to be satisfactory in terms of recovery and precision for the determination of these metals in sea water.