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One of the biggest environmental headaches is vinyl chloride, a toxic compound which can seep into water tables from chemical plants or industrial users. Cancer-causing and fertility-damaging, this organic chloride is the main ingredient in everyday PVC products such as plastic furniture, car upholstery, pipes and insulation for electrical cables. Chemical firms around the world are under pressure from authorities to tackle aquifer pollution from this highly useful but dangerous substance. But the process, sometimes entailing the removal of contaminated soil where there are major spills, is long, expensive, sometimes impracticable and often likely to inflict environmental damage. Now, say...