Bacteria and fungi were screened for degradation of monoterpenes emitted from southern yellow pine lumber during kiln-drying. Of the 77 bacteria tested, only 2 were chosen for further evaluation in laboratory-scale biofilters. Of the 15 fungi tested, 7 exhibited degradation activity, and 1, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, was tested in biofilters. Eleven solid phase extraction materials were evaluated for sampling monoterpenes from an airstream, and the reversed-phase non-polar material LC-PH was chosen because of its ability to reproducibly adsorb monoterpenes and then release these monoterpenes into methanol for gas chromatography analysis. A series of 5-day biofiltration experiments evaluated bark inoculated with either the two bacteria or fungus from the previous screening study plus uninoculated bark controls. In all studies, inoculated biofilters were able to reduce total monoterpenes by at least 94 percent. Inoculation with one bacteria increased the degradation by 9.9 percent over the controls. Inoculation with the fungus increased the degradation by 3.6 percent over the controls, although the white-rot fungus used in this study did not survive the 5-day study period. There was little residual monoterpenes adsorbed to the bark in any of the studies. Bark appears to be a good medium for immobilization of microorganisms and treatment of target compounds for biofiltration. Current studies at the Mississippi State University Forest Products Laboratory are evaluating some of the non-aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus species for terpene degradation at elevated temperatures closer to commercial kiln emission conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]