Fine particulate matter samples were collected at two rural sites and one urban site in Texas from November 2005 to July 2006 for quantification of sugars. Several extraction methods were applied to optimize sugar recovery, and the combination of dichloromethane and methanol was found to extract sugars with greater efficiency than other solvent suites. Concentrations of total fine particle sugars ranged from 22 to 164 ng/m 3 , with levoglucosan, glucose, mannitol, arabitol and glycerol measured at the largest concentrations at all sites. The presence of sugars in fine particle samples can be tied to both biomass burning and soil organic matter. Smaller influence of reintrainment of local soils to the atmosphere was found at the urban site than at the rural sites. Several sugar compounds were proposed as potential molecular markers for soil organic matter input into the atmosphere.