An automated post-irradiation chemical separation scheme for the analysis of 14 trace elements in biological materials is described. The procedure consists of a destruction with sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide, a distillation of the volatile elements with hydrobromic acid and chromatography of both distillate and residue over Dowex 2X8 anion exchanger columns. Accuracy, precision and sensitivity are tested with reference materials (BOWEN’s kale, NBS bovine liver, IAEA materials dried animal whole blood, wheat flour, dried potatoes, powdered milk, oyster homogenate) and on a sample of pooled human blood. Blank values due to trace elements in the quartz irradiation vials are also discussed.