As concerns surrounding livestock production shift from nuisance concerns to public health concerns, it is increasingly important to have a suitable means of quantifying odors and concentration of compounds emitted from animal facilities. Particularly from a health standpoint, it may be necessary to have the ability to measure concentrations of specific compounds. To that end, development of accurate and easy methods of quantifying these analytes is needed. One approach is the use of solid phase microextraction (SPME) procedures using portable field samplers. These procedures have been widely used in liquid phase samples for a variety of purposes as well as headspace sampling (see appendix A for list of references). This sampling technique is user-friendly, allows for identification and quantification of a wide range of analytes, allows for shipment of samples to an analytical laboratory for analysis, and does not require the disposal of solvents. Our intent was to evaluate SPME against other methods in ambient air sampling and develop a protocol for use of SPME. Sampling criteria were developed into a recommended practice for scientists using SPME portable field samplers.