Pharmaceutical preparations may be assayed for volatile organic compounds by purging them with a stream of inert carrier gas and collecting the organics onto a suitable sorbent material, from which they may be backflushed to a gas chromatograph. Compared to solvent extraction, the process offers advantages of increased sensitivity, ease of automation, and elimination of the solvent peak. Examples are given of three major sources of volatiles in pharmaceuticals, with the development of a method for quantitating the volatiles using an internal standard.