A method based on gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of 16 kinds of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) in grains.The sample was extracted by acetonitrile-water and purified by QuEChERS method.The results showed that the liner range was 20～2000μg/L,the recovery rate on 0.1mg/kg and 0.5mg/kg were in the range of 84.1%～110.4% and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 4.6%～13.7%.The limits of detection were in the range of 1～100μg/kg.A total of 18 grain samples were found to be contaminated with PAEs.