A personal air sampling method, using activated carbon with subsequent analysis by gas chromatography, has been developed for acrolein in the 0.05 to 5 ppm (parts per million) range for a five liter air sample. The sensitivity is 0.25 microgram (microgram) of acrolein. This first known viable method for acrolein using a solid adsorbent was made possible by the discovery that acrolein can be adsorbed on, and recovered from, hydroquinone-treated carbon with efficiencies as high as 90 percent. Samples must be analyzed the same day or frozen and analyzed within five days. Airborne contaminants possibly present in the acrolein production area do not interfere with the analysis.