Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-MS) is a powerful technique for detection of elements and biological imaging,in which the sample is firstly ablated by laser to produce aerosol particles,then passed into the ICP with a carry gas,and finally detected by MS.LA-ICP-MS has a number of advantages in the field of environment analysis,such as direct analysis of solid samples without pretreatment,simultaneous determination of multiple elements,high throughput,high sensitivity and wide linear range.Compared with other analytical techniques in terms of micro-area imaging,LA-ICP-MS could not only avoid high vacuum operating environment,but also detect low content elements with high spatial resolution.In addition,it reduces the use of organic solvents and thus becomes more environmentally friendly.LA could also be combined with different MS instruments,for example,combination of LA with inductively coupled plasma time of flight mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-TOF-MS) might increase the ability for multi-element detection and biological imaging.Furthermore,LA could be combined with multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(LA-MC-ICP-MS) for stable isotopic composition determination,which not only avoids cumbersome sample preparation procedures,but also enables in-situ micro-zone isotopic analysis of solid samples.It should be noted that the LA-MC-ICP-MS results might be affected by the fractionation effect,matrix effect and isotopic heterogeneity,while the development of LA device from nanosecond(ns) LA to femtosecond(fs) LA could dramatically decrease the fractionation effect.LA-ICP-MS has been widely used in geology,archaeology and other fields in recent years,while its application in environmental science has started later but developed very rapidly.The development of LA-ICP-MS-based analytical methods in recent years and their applications in environmental research are summarized in this paper.The principle of LA-ICP-MS and the matrix effect and fractionation effect in LA-ICP-MS detection are firstly introduced.The corresponding calibration methods are also discussed.Then,the recent typical applications of LA-ICP-MS in analysis of soils,sediments,ice cores,plants,and biological samples are reviewed.The affecting factors of LA-MC-ICP-MS and its environmental applications are also discussed.Finally,the perspectives on the future trends in this field are anticipated.Regarding analytical methodology,it is necessary to further improve the laser efficiency and sensitivity,decrease matrix effect and improve the spatial resolution to achieve more accurate imaging of samples.It is necessary to develop more standard reference materials and purification methods to adapt to complex environment and biological media.The combined use of multiple imaging techniques has become an important trend in biological sample analysis.Due to the minimal sample consumption and simple sample pretreatment procedures,LA-ICP-MS is expected to be applied to in vivo analysis.It also needs to develop high-precision methods to realize isotopic imaging analysis.In summary,LA-ICP-MS has shown great potentials in environmental applications and will play a more and more important role in environmental research.