A method for the determination of trace amounts of the herbicide oxadiazon was developed using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and selected ion monitoring. It was applied to determine oxadiazon in ground water, agricultural soil, must, wine and human urine samples. To determine oxadiazon in liquid samples, a response surface methodology generated with a Doehlert design was applied to optimize the HS-SPME conditions using a 100 microm polydimethylsiloxane fibre. For the analysis of soil samples, they were mixed with water and the SPME fibre suspended in the headspace above the slurry. Ground water, human urine and must show linear concentration range of application of 0.5-50 ng ml(-1)' with detection limits < or =0.02 ng ml(-1). HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis yielded good reproducibility (RSD values between 6.5 and 13.5%). The method validation was completed with spiked matrix samples. The developed analytical procedure is solvent free, cost effective and fast.