Polyethylene oxide has been end-tagged with aromatic chromophores (naphthalene, anthracene, pyrene) and the adsorption of these hydrophobically modified polymers at toluene-water and polystyrene-water interfaces characterized. The area/polymer as deduced from the lowering of the interfacial tension decreases as the end-tag molecular weight increases. These same polymers were adsorbed onto polystyrene latexes, and an estimate of the area/polymer was made from the increase of the hydrodynamic diameter as a function of adsorbed polymer. The exposure of the chromophore to the aqueous phase in free solution and adsorbed onto latexes was characterized by fluorescence quenching. These results demonstrated hindered access to the aqueous phase when the polymer was adsorbed onto the latex. Fluorescence depolarization measurements also-demonstrated a more rotationally hindered chromophore after being adsorbed. Therefore, one can conclude that the hydrophobic end-group is the primary point of adsorption and that the chromophore is partially compartmentalized by the polystyrene matrix.