The applicability of the modified hollow cathode emission source to the determination of some elements usually contained in steel was tested in the case of chromium (0.144 – 3.07%), copper (0.090 – 0.49%), manganese (0.016 – 1.42%), molybdenum (0.007 – 1.41%), nickel (0.048 – 5.15%, silicon (0.013 – 0.81%), and vanadium (0.034 – 0.64%). The linearity of the calibration curves was found to be highly satisfactory, the Bravais - Pearson correlation coefficient ranging from 0.97 to 0.99. Moreover, results showed that background intensity is negligible and that blackening values can be plotted without resorting to internal standards or other preliminary corrections.