A continuous phosphine (PH_3) generation was developed and applied to the sensitive detection of phosphorus by ICP-AES. Phosphate ion in aqueous solution was converted to phosphine by passing the sample solution through an incandescent copper silica-tube. Detection limit is 2 ng/mL. The relative standard deviation is 4.2% for 20 ng/mL.The method is rapid and simple with low contamination and high sensitivity. A continuous phosphine (PH_3) generation was developed and applied to the sensitive detection of phosphorus by ICP-AES. Phosphate ion in aqueous solution was converted to phosphine by passing the sample solution through an incandescent copper silica-tube. Detection limit is 2 ng / mL. The relative standard deviation is 4.2% for 20 ng / mL. The method is rapid and simple with low contamination and high sensitivity.