Through a novel design of the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma plume used in fabric-fiber surface modification, its discharge byproducts mainly including downstream gases and ultraviolet light were used to treat the dye solution. The different influence of oxygen and air DBD plasmas on the degradation of methyl violet 5BN (MV-5BN), which is widely used in textile industry, was investigated in this paper. The results showed that the cooperation between ultraviolet light and active species generated by the DBD plasma can decolorize MV-5BN effectively, and the chromophore peaks attributed to the -N=N- bonds in MV-5BN molecule disappeared entirely when the azo dye solutions were treated for 25 min by the air and oxygen DBD plasmas. The degradation reaction followed an exponential kinetics over time, and the peak of aromatic derivatives at 209 nm in UV-vis spectra increased nearly 2.7 times when the dye solution was treated for 30 min by air DBD plasma. However, the oxygen DBD plasma could deplete the aromatic derivatives entirely. It is found that the formation of O-3 and NOx in the downstream gases of air and oxygen plasmas may be responsible for the different effects on the azo dye degradation. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.