Direct determination of copper, iron and sodium in high-purity alumina was performed by slurry-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with Smith-Hieftje background correction (S-H-GFAAS). Instrument conditions of GFAAS such as pyrolysis, atomization and hollow cathode lamp current by S-H background correction were optimized, and the optimal experimental conditions were selected. Calibration was performed using aqueous standards method for sample analysis. The accuracy of the proposed method was shown for the case of Al2O3 (AKP-30), and compared with those obtained by furnace atomic absorption spectrometry subsequent to decomposition by sulfuric acid in PTFE pressure vessels. The results were in agreement well with values found in the literature by different methods. It is a simple, convenient and accurate method and it is suitable for the rapid analysis of trace element in alumina. The linear regression coefficients of the calibration curves were better than 0.999 0. The detection limits were 0.66, 2.5 and 0.13 ng·g-1, respectively, with a relative standard deviation being not more than 5.2%.