A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for simultaneously determining the major phenolic compounds, including hydroquinone, resorcinol, catechol, phenol, m+p-cresol and o-cresol, in mainstream and sidestream cigarette smoke was developed. Cigarette smoke was collected on Cambridge pads and then extracted with 1% acetic acid. The extract was filtrated with a 0.45µm filtration film and subjected to a reversed-phase gradient liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector. The mobile phase was 1% acetic acid (A) and a mixture of acetic acid, acetonitrile and water (B, 1:30:69). The variation coefficient of the method was below 5% and the recoveries of phenols were from 99.8% to 103.7%.