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Thermal desorption coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS) is an alternative to solvent extraction (SE)-based GC/MS (SE-GC/MS) for the analysis of non-polar organic compounds in filter or impactor-collected aerosols. TD-GC/MS has no sample pretreatment and requires a small filter aliquot for detecting individual organic compounds. The performance of an in-injection port TD-GC/MS is evaluated for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), n-alkanes, iso-/anteiso-alkanes, hopanes, steranes, branched alkanes, cyclohexanes, alkenes, and phthalates in standards and ambient air samples. Replicate analysis for 132 organic compounds showed relative standard deviations <10%, with the majority <5%. Accuracy for 15 PAHs, determined with NIST standard reference material (SRM) 1649a urban dust, was within ±5% of the certified values. TD-GC/MS and SE-GC/MS method comparisons …