With microwave-digestion as a sample decomposition technique and HNO3 and H2O2 as digestion reagent, the contents of Pb, Cd and Cr in surface decorating materials of wood-based panels were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The detection limit of Pb, Cd and Cr of FAAS is 0.12 μg·mL-1, 0.029 μg·L-1 and 0.146 μg·L-1; respectively, the cadmium detection limit of GFAAS is 0.157 μg·L-1. The precision of lead was between 0.8% and 3.0% and the recoveries ranged from 94% to 109.2%. The precision of cadmium was between 0.8% and 2.1%, and the recoveries ranged from 94.6% to 106.4%. The precision of chromium was between 1.8% and 4.9%, and the recoveries ranged from 98.8% to 107.7%. The method is accurate and reliable, and suitable and applicable to determining heavy metal of surface decorating materials of wood-based panels. The result is expected to provide scientific basis for establishing a corresponding Chinese national standard.