A custom-made atmospheric argon micro-plasma system was employed to dissociate dimethyl sulfide (DMS) into a non-foul-smelling species. The proposed system takes the advantages of low energy requirement and non-thermal process with a constant flow rate at ambient condition. In the experiments, the compositions of DMS/argon plasma, the residual gaseous phases, and solid precipitates were respectively characterized using an optical emission spectrometer, various gas-phase analyzers, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. For 400 ppm DMS introduced into argon plasma with two pairs of electrodes (90W). a complete decomposition of DMS was achieved: the DMS became converted into excited species such as C*, C-2*, H*, and CH*. When gaseous products were taken away from the treatment area, the excited species tended to recombine and form stable compounds or species, which formed as solid particles and gaseous phases. The solid deposition was likely formed by the agglomeration of C-, H-, and S-containing species that became deposited on the quartz inner tube. For the residual gaseous phases, low-molecular-weight segments mostly recombined into relatively thermodynamic stable species, such as hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon disulfide. The dissociation mechanism and treatment efficiency are discussed, and a treatment of converting DMS into H-2-, CS2-, and H2S-dominant by-products is proposed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.