In the present paper, the method for determining the trace elements Be, Cd, As and Pb in air of residential areas by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry was established. Ultrasonic leaching procedures were applied to extract the trace elements from the filter membrane of the atmospheric particulates. The operating condition of the instrument was optimized. 72Ge, 115In and 204Tl were chosen as the internal elements and the effect of matrix, interface and fluctuation of instrument was overcome effectively. Satisfactory linearity of working curves of four elements was obtained, giving all the correlation coefficients over 0.999 5, and the detection limit of the method was between 0.006 and 0.045 ng·m-3. The mean values of National Standard Reference Material GBW(E)080212 were in agreement with the certified values. The sampling filters membranes, divided into four equal parts and with added standard solution with different concentions were analyzed, and the recovery rate of samples were in the range of 91.6%～109.7% with the related standard deviation between 0.7% and 4.8%. The obtained results showed that the method of determining the trace elements Be, Cd, As and Pb in air of residential areas by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry proved to be simple, accurate, sophisticated and stable.