In order to clarify the source of pungent odors in books,the volatile compounds in books were studied by combining headspace-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and sensory evaluation.Quantitative,qualitative analysis and sensory quantitative methods were used to determine that the volatile compounds that produced pungent odors were not the 16 volatile compounds in the environmental protection testing standard HJ 2503-2011,and five volatile compounds that were positively correlated with the pungent odors in the book were screened.