Abstract Ion exchange material has been widely applied to the field of noble metal recycling and enrichment of trace heavy metal in wastewater. The enrichment of trace heavy metal in seawater using carboxylic acid cation exchange fiber is preliminary studied in this article .The static and dynamic adsorption of Cu2+、Zn2+、Cd2+、Pb2+ from seawater with the fiber containing –COOH and –COONa groups on polypropylene(PP)matrix were discussed from the aspects of adsorption ratio and adsorption selectivity. The results showed that the cation exchange fiber containing carboxylic acid, which can be prepared easily and cheaply, can be successfully used to the enrichment of heavy metal in seawater. The experiment results showed that the adsorption percent of Cu2+、Zn2+、Cd2+、Pb2+ is larger than that of Na+、K+、Mg2+、Ca2+ using carboxylic acid cation exchange fiber and the adsorption selectivity of Cu2+、Zn2+、Cd2+、Pb2+ is Cu2+>Zn2+>Cd2+>Pb2+. The carboxylic fiber in Na+ form on PP matrix is better for the enrichment. The results also indicated the dynamic adsorption effect of PP-COONa was better than the static effect. Increasing the concentration of heavy metal the adsorption ratio and selectivity of Cu2+、Zn2+、Cd2+、Pb2+ increased but the value of Na+、K+、Mg2+、Ca2+ decreased.