A high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric(HPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the investigation on exposure levels of 16 phthalates(PAEs) in human plasma collected from the Pearl River Delta.Plasma samples were pretreated by protein precipitation with acetonitrile,and followed by liquid-liquid extraction with n hexane.Results demonstrated that 6 PAEs,i.e.dimethyl phthalate(DMP),diisobutyl phthalate(DiBP),di n butyl phthalate(DnBP),butyl benzyl phthalate(BBP),dicyclohexyl phthalate(DCHP) and di (2-ethyl hexyl) phthalate(DEHP) were detected in plasma samples.The detection rates for DEHP,DiBP,DnBP,DMP,DCHP and BBP were 100%,98.0%,62.0%,49.0%,5.00%and 5.00%,respectively.Contents for ∑PAEs were in the range of 12.4-1 399 ng/g,in which median and mean were 39.8 ng/g and 57.7 ng/g,respectively.DEHP occupied the highest ratio among the 6 PAEs,which was in the range of 90.01%-99.96%.By comparing the concentrations of PAEs in different sex and age groups,PAEs in female and less than 40 years old groups were detected with higher concentrations,and significant differences occured only in DMP concentrations of different sex and age groups.