The concentrations of main heavy metal pollutants (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr and As) in soil were tested by NITON XL3 600 portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (PXRF). The results showed that the minimum?detection limits for elements Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr and As were 23.96, 11.69, 8.58, 19.23, 6.24 mg·kg-1, respectively. The soil composition standard material GSS-5 was detected by PXRF for 5 replicate measurements, The accuracy was 96%～102% and relative standard deviations (RSD) was 1.0%～7.6%. In term of field situ testing, RSD was less than 20%, and accuracy was 55%～119%. The performance was assessed by laboratory testing and field situ detection, and the results indicated that PXRF is effective for rapid, quantitative monitoring of soil metal contamination.