Pentachlorophenol (PCP) has been extensively used as a fungicide,bactericide,herbicide,molluscicide,algaecide and insecticide worldwide (Ahlborg and Thunberg,1980;Choudhury et al.,1986).Although PCP is primarily used as a preservative for wood and wood products,it has been also used in a variety of other products,including adhesives,construction materials,leather and paper.PCP is environmentally persistent with a half-life of up to 6-7 months in soil and water systems (Law et al.,2003).In 2015,the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants added PCP to its list of persistent organic pollutants.Because of its extensive use and resistance to degradation,PCP has become a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that has been detected in surface water,drinking water,soil,and food (Zhu and Shan,2009;Angelucci and Tomei,2015).Consequently,the general public can be exposed to PCP as evidenced by its presence in human urine,serum,and adipose tissue samples from non-occupationally exposed people (Seiler,1991;Morgan,2015).