Retorting of oil shale, a process which has been of considerable interest during periods of oil supply shortages, produces large amounts of spent shale. A knowledge of the nature of organic materials derived from the oil shale retorting processes and from the spent shale itself is important for assessing impacts on people and the environment. The purpose of the present study is to identify appropriate methods for sampling and characterizing volatile organic components of spent shale and to test the methods on samples of pyrolyzed and combusted oil shale. Volatile organic compounds, (VOCs) in spent shale were obtained by heating a spent shale sample while sweeping the sample with helium. The VOCs in the helium stream were collected on Tenax traps and subsequently analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Collecting the organic components on Tenax traps concentrates the organic constituents and thereby increases the sensitivity of the analytical procedure. Identification of the organic components was accomplished through the use of GC retention time data, library searches carried out on mass spectra, and the interpretation of mass spectra not identified by library searches. The spent shale samples were obtained from a two-stage, pyrolysis and combustion retorting process. 7 refs., 7 figs., 7 tabs.