Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are extracted from atmospheric particulate samples with a thermal desorption technique that circumvents the need for lengthy solvent extraction procedures prior to gas chromatographic analysis. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are extracted by vacuum-sublimation and collected in a cold trap. The sublimed species are then cryogenically focused at the head of a fused silica capillary column by a thermal purging technique and subsequently analyzed. The technique is applicable to screening tests for selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons when used with a sufficiently specific detector, and has the advantages of simplicity and low cost.