Membrane fouling is an important problem in microfiltration processes. Although the solute adsorption on the membrane is one of the factors inducing membrane fouling, its evaluation is difficult. In this study we have attempted this evaluation using liquid chromatography with polyethylene as the stationary phase. Polyethylene is a common material of a microfiltration membrane. Aromatic compounds were retained significantly by the polyethylene stationary phase, although small amount of solute loading to the column was allowed. The logarithm of the capacity factor (log k＇) for aromatic compounds was linearly correlated with the logarithm of 1-octanol/water partition coefficient (log K-o/w), and this indicated that the main controlling factor for the adsorption is the hydrophobic interaction. We also found that alkyl substituents and the nonplanarity of the molecular structures exerted negative effects for the adsorption. Moreover, evaluation of partition coefficient based on the surface area of the stationary phase revealed that polyethylene could adsorb aromatic compounds as much as 15 to 90 times more than octadecylsilane.