Efficiencies of synthetic adsorbents and attapulgites in bleaching alkali-refined rapeseed and soybean oils ranged from 13-53% and 93-97%, respectively. The Freundlich equation was more applicable than the Langmuir equation to the experimental adsorption isotherms of beta-carotene on attapulgites. Bleaching with attapulgites reduced toco pherols by 12.5-29.5% in rapeseed oil and by 18.9-44.8% in soybean oil. Cosmetic-grade attapulgite was superior to the others in bleaching efficiency, equilibrium amount adsorbed and removal of free fatty acids.