The method of study describes the determination of the nanogram amounts of mono-, di-, and tri-butyltin compounds in sea water. The procedure is based on 1) the conversion of tin compounds to non-ionic species by sodium tetraethyl borate as an alkylation reagent, 2) one-step ethylation and 3) extraction. No further purification or concentration of the extract was required before GC-FPD (Flame Photometric Detector). The detection limits for mono-, di- and tri-butyltin were 12.50, 6.02, and 4.19 ng/L. The linear range (0-120 ng/L) was solely dependent on the detector response height. Sea water samples (n=24) were obtained from Masan Bay, Busan, Ullsan, Gunsan, Sockcho, Yeasu, Donghae, Inchun, Kanghwa, and Ahsan in Korea. The samples were collected between June, 1992 to July, 1992 and the distribution of monobutyltintrichloride (MBTC), dibutyltindichloride (DBTC), and tributyltinchloride (TBTC) in sea water was recorded. The concentrations of butyltin compounds in seawater were found to be in the range of N.D. (not detected)-61.93 ng/L for MBTC, N.D.-32.16 ng/L for DBTC, and N.D.-55.76 ng/L for TBTC.