Thermal stabilization of several volatile elements (antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, lead, selenium, tin, and thallium) in biol. digests, solubilized hair and dild. urine in the presence of mixed modifiers: palladium-tungsten and palladium-tungsten-ammonium nitrate (for urine) has been studied. ETAAS procedures for anal. of biol. tissues and urine have been elaborated. Simple techniques for pre-instrumental treatment and fast temp. programs are expedited. Applications to different biol. ref. materials have been demonstrated. The relative errors and RSDs are less than 10%, and the analyte recoveries are within 96 and 108%. [on SciFinder (R)]