Abstract: Objective To establish a simple. sensitive and stable method of determination of zinc in serum by UV-spectrophotometry. Methods Determination of serum zinc with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol(5-Br-PADAP) in the presence of surfactant Triton X-100. Results The maximum absorption of the complex compound was at 558 nm, the linearity of test was up to 51 μmol/L. The molar absorption coefficient is 1.05×105L/mol-1*cm-1.The recoveries ranged from 98.1%to 103%. The within run and between run CV are 2.1%and 3.6%. Comparing this method (Y) with AAS(X), we obtained the regression equation.Y=1.02X-0.41,r=0.9862,P＞0.05. The reference interval (±2s) was (9.5～24.3)μmol/L (n=48). Conclusions This method is simple, sensitive, stable, rapid and accurate for clinical application.