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A novel sorbent for simultaneous separation of cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead was prepared by functionalizing SBA-15 nanoporous silica with dithizone. A solid-phase extraction method using the above sorbent was developed to separate and preconcentrate trace amounts of cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead ions from food and agricultural products by flame atomic absorption spectrometry measurements. The optimum experimental conditions such as pH; flow rates; type, concentration, and volume of the eluent; breakthrough volume; and effect of coexisting ions on the separation and determination of these heavy metals were evaluated. The extraction efficiencies for the mentioned heavy metals were greater than 97 %, and the limits of detection were 0.09, 0.16, 0.21, and 0.45 μg L⁻¹ for cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead, respectively. The preconcentration factor for simultaneous analysis of the four …