Objective To investigate phthalate esters in the muscle tissues of fresh water fish in fishponds in Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong,China,Nov,2005.Methods The samples from Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong,China,were analyzed by capillary gas chromatography with FID detector through the procedure of freeze-dried,soxhlet extraction,decontaminating with alumina-silica gel columniation in Nov,2005.Results The concentration of six sorts of PAEs was detected.The concentration of DEHP was 16.10 mg/kg(dry weight),19.81 mg/kg and 11.03 mg/kg in crucian carp,grass carp and tilapia from Pearl River Delta,while being 35.97,37.98 and 26.12 mg/kg for the same species from HK respectively,but the DMP showed the lowest value,only about 0.54 mg/kg.The concentration of DBP and BOP ranged from 3 to 10 mg/kg.Conclusion The fresh water fish from Pearl River Delta were polluted by DEHP,DBP and BOP significantly and the level of pollution is different among various areas.