The 3rd International Symposium on Monitoring of Gaseous Pollutants by Tunable Diode th Lasers, held at the Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg on October 17th and 18 , continued a tradition, established by the two preceeding meetings held at the same location, in 1986 and 1988. The steadily increasing number of participants and contributions emphasizes the need for such a meeting, which is unique in Europe and appreciated abroad. This third symposium in particular, was specially marked by the presence of the former Eastern Block Countries, with a number of scientists, and contributions, from the USSR (stilI existing at the time of the meeting) and from East Berlin. The large number of contributions proposed, originally, as oral presentations, could not be fitted in the schedule of the two-day limit which the participants to the previous meetings had recommended. To take account of these contributions, poster sessions were held, combined with extended discussion time. This intensified personal interaction was much appreciated by the participants.