BACKGROUND: Hydrophobic volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as toluene, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), are poorly soluble in water and classical air treatment processes like chemical scrubbers are not efficient. An alternative technique involving an absorption step in an organic solvent followed by a biodegradation phase was proposed. The solvent must fulfil several characteristics, which are key factors of process efficiency, and a previous study allowed polydimethylsiloxane (or PDMS, i.e. silicone oil) to be selected for this purpose. The aim of this paper was to determine some of its characteristics like absorption capacity and velocity performances (Henry's constant, diffusivity and mass transfer coefficient), and to verify its non-biodegradability. RESULTS: For the three targeted VOCs, Henry's constants in silicone oil were very low compared to those in water, and solubility was infinite. Diffusivity values were found to be in the range 10(-10) to 10(-11) m(2) s(-1) and mass transfer coefficients did not show significant differences between the values in pure water and pure silicone oil, in the range 1.0 x 10(-3) to 4.0 x 10(-3) s(-1) for all the VOCs considered. Silicone oil was also found to be non-biodegradable, since its biological oxygen demand (BOD5) value was zero. CONCLUSION: Absorption performances of silicone oil towards toluene, DMS and DMDS were determined and showed that this solvent could be used during the first step of the process. Moreover, its low biodegradability and its absence of toxicity justify its use as an absorbent phase for the integrated process being considered. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry