Abstract: Based on the domestic and foreign literatures in the recent ten years, this paper summarized the applications of Unmix model in source apportionment research, comparing the difference of research medias and research objects using this model, and prospecting the application of Unmix model in further. The Unmix model is mainly used for source apportionment of atmospheric particulates abroad, while it is used in source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soil heavy metals in China. The apportionment results by Unmix model was different from other commonly used source apportionment models, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF), that was mainly caused by the different values of uncertainty parameters. Moreover, uncertainties in original data would also affect the results of source apportionment. In general, the Unmix model had a wide range of applicability in the source apportionment of soil heavy metals, PAHs and atmospheric particulates. Nevertheless, the application of the source apportionment to other types of pollutants requires further development.