A gas chromatographic method is described for the determination of linear alkylbenzenesulfonate (LAS). LAS was converted into its N-methylanilide derivative by a convenient procedure involving ion-pair extraction followed by amidation, and was analyzed by electron-capture gas chromatography (ECD-GC) using 0.5% OV-17+0.1% FFAP on Uniport HP as the GC column packing. The derivative was very stable and provided excellent ECD response. By ECD-GC method, a linear calibration curve was obtained in the range of 5 -1000 ng of LAS. The detection limit of LAS was 0.1 ng as injection amount. LAS in river water could be measured without influence of co-existing substances. The recoveries of LAS in river water were 95 -109% and the reproducibility was found to be satisfactory. The LAS contents in river water samples were measured by ECD-GC method and Methylene Blue method, and the analytical results by both methods were compared.