The result of pumping air containing 56 ppb NO 2 through a terpene-spiked adsorbent (90–130 ng, 90–100 ml min −1), Tenax TA, for 20 min (1.8–2.0 l) was that 8% of α-pinene, 7% of β-pinene, 21% of Δ 3-carene and 5% of limonene were oxidised. In similar experiments with air containing 56 ppb O 3, 3% of α-pinene, 4% of β-pinene, 10% of Δ 3-carene and 38% of limonene were oxidised. Sampling a mixture of a terpene and NO 2 using Tenax TA can give unwanted overestimation of the amount of reaction products from the terpene–NO 2 reaction or underestimation of the original terpene levels. A scrubber was needed to reduce the problems caused by interfering reactions on the adsorbent of NO 2 and to reduce discrimination of reactive compounds due to their relatively fast decay on the adsorbent. Several chemicals have been tested for their ability of removing NO 2 and our objective was to develop a well functioning, reusable, easy to handle, easy manufactured NO 2 scrubber. The result of the experiments was a scrubber consisting of two glass fibre filters coated with Na 2SO 3 assembled in a dust collector. The recovery of the terpenes through the scrubber varied between 75% and 97% at 15–75% relative humidity, and the scrubber is a one-use scrubber due to memory effects. The Na 2SO 3 scrubber could be stored in room air for at least one month without loosing the capacity of removing NO 2.