Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is present in most environmental compartments, including those which result in direct human exposure. This paper assesses the contribution made by different exposure routes and illustrates that the average non-occupationally exposed UK individual absorbs 0.05, 0.32 and 4.16 μg PCP per day from air inhalation, water and diet ingestion, giving a total absorption of 4.53 μg (total intake being 5.7 μg). Using data from other sources it appears that most human PCP body burdens are in the region of 550 μg. Using the body burden and calculated daily intakes it is concluded that either the half-life of PCP in the human body has been underestimated or that the UK body burden is below that found in other countries.