Abstract: A method was developed for 22 phthalate esters residues in essence using gas chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The samples were extracted with acetonitrile and N-hexane,cleaned up with solid phase extraction,and quantified using internal standard. The results showed that the calibration curves of the 22 phthalate esters showed good linearity in the range of 3~1000 μg/L,with the coefficient of determination(R²)not less than 0.9922.The limits of detection(LODs)were 0.3~1.0 μg/kg and the limits of quantification(LOQs)were 1.0~3.0 μg/kg. The mean recoveries in essence at the three spiked levels of 20,40 and 200 μg/kg were 82.4%~107.1%,the relative standard deviation(RSD)were not more than 9.1%(n=6). The 22 phthalate esters in the actual samples were determined by this method with the detection rate of 45.0%. The method is suitable for the determination of the 22 phthalate esters in essence with easy operation,high sensitivity and accuracy,and wide ranges of applications.