Surface characterization of coal fly ash (CFA) was carried out by use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), especially focusing on the occurrence of As. A peak in the XPS spectrum of CFA was assigned to oxide forms of As(3d). The molar ratios of A1, As, Ca, Fe, and S normalized to Si were obtained from XPS analysis (MR-X). Also, the molar ratios of those elements were calculated from bulk analysis (total element concentration in CFA) (MR-B). The MR-XIMR-B ratio of As was much higher than those of other elements, suggesting that As is highly enriched on the surface of CFA. When eight CFA samples were analyzed, there was an approximate relationship between the MR-X values and MR-B values for As. The leaching of elements from CFA was examined by XPS analysis and by bulk analysis. The leaching tests using EDTA and HNO3 resulted in a great decrease in the As(3d) peak area; the %leaching of As obtained by XPS analysis was almost equal to that by bulk analysis. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.