Emission of malodorous compounds from swine production facilities is due to the anaerobic metabolism of amino acids, production of short chain fatty acids through fermentation, and dissimilatory sulfate reduction. The majority of these compounds are polar, and therefore highly water soluble. In a typical rearing facility, animal wastes are flushed with large amounts of water, and manure is stored in pits, or treated in facultative anaerobic lagoons or retention ponds. In that wastewater constitutes a major source for the emission of volatile compounds from animal production facilities, direct quantification of malodors in water is a necessary adjunct to vapor phase measurements. Only by direct liquid-phase measurements can data required to understand the relationship of environmental factors such as temperature and wind speed to emission rates and odor fluxes from wastewater be obtained. While a number of techniques have been used to quantify malodors in wastewater such as solvent and supercritical fluid extraction, solid phase microextraction (SPME) techniques have become more popular due to their ease and relatively low cost. However, SPME sorbent phases need to be critically evaluated for their sensitivity and reproducibility for accurately measuring malodorous compounds in wastewater. The objective of the present study was to compare the utility of some solid phase extraction techniques for the measurement of malodorous compounds in liquid wastes. SPME fibers with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and PDMS-Carboxen coatings were contrasted with PDMS-coated stir bars to quantify malodorous compounds in high-strength wastewaters and swine lagoon waters. Results are compared on the basis of variability and sensitivity of quantification.