The concentration of pollutants may fluctuate enormously over the day, making it inappropriate to extrapolate 24‐hour averaged pollutant concentration to short‐term human exposures of only 1 or 2 hours. We describe the design and methodology for collecting integrated gas samples over short periods of time from which the short‐term concentrations of woodsmoke aerosol can be deduced. Our technique is particularly useful in isolating potential health effects from acute exposure to air pollutants. We demonstrate our method by applying it to acute levels of exposure to pollutants from woodburning stoves and fireplaces in a residential community.