Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry was applied to the determination of impurities (Al, Ca, Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, Si, V, W and Zr) in titanium carbide (TiC) and titanium nitride (TiN). A 0.5-g amount of the powder sample was decomposed with 7.5 ml of nitric acid and 2.5 ml of hydrofluoric acid in a PTFE jar. The matrix effects on the background levels and the emission intensities of the elements were compensated for by using matrix-matched standard solutions for calibration. The results showed that the proposed method was useful for the analysis of TiC and TiN samples.