Abstract: A review on the present status of the use of permanent chemical modifier in electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry,covering the years from 1979 to 2004,was presented in this paper. The following items were related: ① prolongation of lifetime of graphite plateform;② lowering the values of blank signals and improving the detection limit;③ improving the precision by keeping permanent stability of analytical signals;④ simplifying and speeding of the program of temperature elevation in EtAAS;⑤ lowering the cost of analysis;and ⑥ state of application to the analysis of substantial samples (36 ref. cited).