BACKGROUND: An emerging innovation for the treatment of polluted air consists in using a liquid-solid biphasic system, in which the sequestering phase contains inert polymer beads. The different polymers tested here for this purpose were; Hytrel (R) G3548L, Hytrel (R) G4078W, styrene butadiene copolymer, 28% and 31%, silicone rubber, PEBAX (R) 2533, and rubber tires. The selection of the most effective polymer(s) first requires a determination of the uptake of the pollutants by the solid phase in terms of key polymer properties such as partition coefficient, diffusion coefficient and biodegradability. RESULTS: A significant difference was found in the uptake levels of alpha-pinene from the gas phase for the different polymers tested. Based on partition coefficient measurements, relatively non-polar polymers such as Kraton (R) tend to uptake alpha-pinene better than polar ones, such as Hytrel (R). A reduction in the partition coefficient of alpha-pinene into polymers in the presence of water has also been observed. It was also proven that the tested polymers are not biodegradable. CONCLUSIONS: The uptake of alpha-pinene by the different polymers tested was determined and it was shown that such polymers could be used for air pollution control. Furthermore, their non-biodegradability justifies their use as absorbents. This paper provides a new opportunity to work with biofilters (BFs)/biotrickling filters (BTFs) using polymers as a sequestering phase. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry