A method to sample air for contaminants using activated charcoal to adsorb vapors was studied. Effects of sampling rate, volume of sample collected, vapor concentration, and particle size of the charcoal were considered. Known concentrations of gas in air mixtures were prepared. Methylethyl-ketone (78933) (MEK), toluene (108883), trichloroethylene (79016) (TCE), butyl-acetate (123864) (BA), 3-methylcyclohexanol (5454795) (MCH), and styrene (100425) were used. The vapor preparations were sampled in activated charcoal tubes. The tubes were emptied into 10 milliliter (ml) volumetric flasks and washed with 10ml of carbon-disulfide. Desorption proceeded for 1 hour after which gas chromatography was used to analyze the sample. Charcoal was passed through meshes of various sizes: 10/20, 20/30, 30/40, 40/50, and 60/80. To examine effects of sampling rate, the threshold limit value (TLV) concentration of each of the six compounds was sampled for 10 minutes at 100, 200, 500, and 1000ml/minute. One, 2, and 5 times the TLV of these compounds was prepared and sampling was performed at 100ml/minute. The 10/30 mesh size was the most efficient collector and desorber. Styrene, MCH, and BA were more efficiently collected at 500ml/minute and reached a limit value as sampling rate increased. There was less recovery of MEK at 1000ml/minutes. Only MEK was significantly affected by varying the amount of the air sampled. The efficiency for MEK and toluene collection also decreased with an increased sample concentration. Efficiency of recovery of MCH varied only 7 percent over the range of concentrations sampled. BA and styrene reached a limit of collection efficiency at twice the TLV. The authors conclude that a sampling rate of 100ml/minute yields the most reproducible results although the efficiency of recovery at this rate is not always maximum. For sampling at 100ml/minute, the recovery efficiency is relatively independent of the volume of vapor collected. Higher sampling rates do not always result in the same yields at higher concentrations.