1,2-Bis(salicylidenamino)ethane loaded onto sodium dodecyl sulfate-coated alumina was used as a new chelating sorbent for the preconcentration of traces of Pb(II) and Cu(II) prior to atomic absorption spectrometric determination. The influence of pH, flow rates of sample and eluent solutions, and foreign ions on the recovery of Pb(II) and Cu(II) by this sorbent has been studied. The retained ions were eluted with 4 mol•L nitric acid and determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The data of limit of detection (3σ) for Pb(II) and Cu(II) were found to be 8.57 and 2.69 ng•L -1 respectively, while the enrichment factor for both ions was 100. The proposed method was successfully applied to determination of lead and copper in different water samples.