Abstract: Objective: To establish a UV spectrometric method to determine diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in purified drinking water. Methods: DEHP in drinking water was extracted with n-hexane, blow-dried with nitrogen gas, and brought to a final volume with methanol. Experimental conditions for DEHP determination were optimized.  Results: A standard curve equation was built as follows: y ＝1.5347x＋0.0266 with linear correlation coefficient of 0.9970. The relative standard deviations of precision and reproducibility were 0.644% and 0.5742%, respectively. The average spike recovery rates were 88.89%－99.73%. Conclusion: This method is characteristics of simple operation, fast determination and satisfactory results.

Key words: DEHP, UV spectrophotometry, purified drinking water