The sorption and desorption characteristics of the four organic chlorinated hydrocarbons (trichloroethylene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethylene (cis-1,2-DCE), 1,1,1-trichloroethane (1,1,1-TCA), and 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA)) onto loam soil are investigated by a batch of experiments in this study. The results indicate that the sorption equilibrium time of the four chlorinated hydrocarbons onto the loam soil is about three days. The sorption isotherm for all compounds is nearly linear, and fits to Freundlich isotherm slightly over the entire concentration range. As for chloroethylenes, TCE is strongly sorbed to the loam samples (Kd = 0.624 L/kg), and followed by cis-DCE (Kd = 0.238 L/kg). For chloroethanes, 1,1,1-TCA is strongly sorbed (Kd=0.520 L/kg), and followed by 1,2-DCA (Kd=0.353 L/kg). This is consistent with the order of hydrophobicity of the compounds. In addition, the lgKoc value is estimated by Abdul, Dobbs, Rao and Cong empirical regression formula respectively in this study, and the results show that the estimated lgKoc value determined by Abdul regression is significantly lower than the calculated value, and the estimated lgKoc value determined by Cong regression is significantly higher than the calculated value, while the estimated lgKoc values determined by Dobbs and Rao regression are much closer to the calculated values. This demonstrates that the Dobbs and Rao regression is more suitable for lgKoc estimation for chlorinated hydrocarbons. Besides, it is found that there is a certain lag in desorption of chlorinated hydrocarbons from the loam soil; and the higher the sorption capacity of chlorinated hydrocarbon, the lower the desorption capacity of chlorinated hydrocarbon.