Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) prevalent in our atmosphere are of major environmental concerns. Several methods of controlling VOCs exist. Most of them have direct or indirect environmental consequences in terms of materials they use and wastes they produce albeit control VOCs. It has been found that conventional techniques especially of physical and chemical nature pose a number of problems such as high on cost, high material requirement, produce lots of waste and contribute to climate change and environmental degradation. Various biological oxidation methods adopted in various reactors for controlling gaseous VOCs have been reviewed, pros and cons of these technologies have been studied and the sensitive parameters for improving removal efficiency along with their environmental implications have been identified. It has been found that rotating biological contactor (RBC) could be an effective alternative to control gaseous VOCs because of its simple design and operation. Further, it provides higher oxygen transfer, offers better mixing, consumes low energy and has potential of higher removal efficiency as compared to the other biological techniques. There is, moreover, an ample scope in improving its gaseous-control efficiency by optimizing the parameters like rotational speed, hydraulic loading rate, and hydraulic retention time and similarly by the use of different media, biofilm characteristics and dissolved-oxygen levels. With these scopes, RBC can be an eco-friendly, and promising option for controlling gaseous VOCs. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.