Three kinds of particulate matter were collected: diesel and gasoline exhaust particles emitted directly from exhaust nozzle, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) near the traffic route. Soxhlet extraction was performed on each sample. By gas-chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) analysis of these extracts, di-ethyl phthalate and di-n-butyl phthalate were detected from the extract of SPM and diesel exhaust particles (DEPs). Because these phthalates were sometimes suspected as contamination, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) measurements were also performed on the samples collected at the same environment. By comparing obtained spectra, it is clear that these environmental endocrine disrupters; (EEDs) were adsorbed on DEP surface. Thus, we concluded that the combination of conventional method and TOF-SIMS measurement is one of the most powerful techniques for analyzing the toxic air pollutants adsorbed on SPM surface. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.