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Parallel to the economical benefits brought by the oil industry in Mexico, there have been some negative environmental effects due to emission of pollutants to the atmosphere. Salamanca, a city located inside one of the most important industrial corridors of the country, has been frequently affected by elevated concentrations of sulfur dioxide and particle matter. However, little is known about volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which in this study are analyzed along with criteria pollutants and meteorological parameters during February–March 2003 at urban, suburban and rural sites. Although sulfur dioxide average levels were ∼0.017ppm, a high concentration event (∼0.600ppm), attributable to emissions from the oil refinery and the thermoelectric power plant, was observed at the urban site at night time. The VOCs concentration varied from 170±50ppbC (rural) to 699±212 (urban) and were constituted by 40 …