A study was carried out to investigate the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during drying of plantation Pinus sylvestris grown in China and naturally grown Pinus sylvestris from Russia. Our purpose was to provide basic information that can help wood processing mills set their VOCs emission limits and control the exhaust gas within such limits. During conventional drying of the plantation Pinus sylvestris, a total of 22 chemical compounds were detected in the exhaust gas: 9 aldehydes including formaldehyde, 8 terpenes including α-pinene, and 3 additional compounds including alkane, and propylbenzene. The VOCs released during both conventional drying and high-temperature drying were the same. However, large amounts of benzene were detected during the high-temperature drying process. During conventional drying of the Russian Pinus sylvestris material, a total of 17 chemical compounds were detected: 7 aldehydes including formaldehyde, 6 terpenes including α-pinene, and 2 additional compounds. The VOCs released during conventional drying and high-temperature drying were the same. However, large amounts of camphene were detected during high-temperature drying. For plantation Pinus sylvestris, the release of VOCs primarily took place at the later stage of conventional drying, and at the earlier stage of high-temperature drying. For Russian Pinus sylvestris, the amount and the release rate of VOCs during conventional drying were extremely low, and the VOCs during high-temperature drying were primarily released at the later stage. The total amount of VOCs released during drying was much higher from the plantation Pinus sylvestris than from Russian Pinus sylvestris material.Published version