One hundred and eighty eight volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified from dust emission, dust headspace, and in air sampling in a residence by sampling on Tenax TA followed by thermal desorption and HRGC/MS. Of these, 83 compounds were found in dust headspace. Aliphatic aldehydes (C4-8) and octane were major contributors to headspace gas chromatograms while the total ion current response for desorbed VOCs (120-degrees-C) was dominated by n-alkanes (C7-16), n- and branched alkanals (C4-10) and alkanoic acids (C2-C14). Many of the identified VOCs could be products of microbial or human metabolism. Dust volatiles resulting from desorption were compared to dust headspace VOC analyses and found to be comparable considering the temperature difference. A method for determination of total VOC (TVOC-dust) emission at 120-degrees-C, was developed. Variation in desorption TVOC analyses was mainly due to sample heterogeneity.