Abstract Data are presented for real‐time atmospheric monitoring of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in air using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT‐MS) technology. These measurements were made by one of the new generation of SIFT‐MS instruments. Results are shown for five VOCs that were continually monitored from a stationary sampling point over a 4‐day period: ethene, ethanol, 1,3‐butadiene, benzene and toluene. All analytes except ethene in the study have at least two simultaneous and independent measures of concentration. These results demonstrate the great advances in SIFT‐MS that have been made in recent years. 1,3‐Butadiene is measured at a concentration of 9 pptv with a precision of 44%. For a 1‐s integration time, a detection limit of 50 pptv is achieved. Instrument sensitivities are reported for all five analytes. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.