Objective To study the distribution pattern of rare earth elements (REEs) in hair of young children. Methods REEs level and distribution pattern in hair of young children aged 0～30 months in RE ore area were studied. All the lanthanide elements were determined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP_MS) in 20 hair samples of young children aged 0_3yrs, 10 samples from RE ore area and 10 samples as controls from Xunwu county, Jiangxi, China. Results 15 kinds of REEs in each sample were all detected. There were significant differences between higher children's hair REEs levels of RE ore area and those lower levels of control site (P