1.   A study conducted by the Water Research Centre, to be published this summer, revealed high levels of chlorinated solvents in the water table beneath Luton and Dunstable.

2.   Manufacturing industries using chlorinated solvents for cleaning applications can now call on a team of specialists to collect used solvent for recycling or safe disposal.

3.   Human exposure to the chlorinated solvents and their breakdown products can cause serious health effects, including cancer.

4.   McCarty said the Cornell study had provided an extremely valuable tool for understanding how bacteria could be used to help rid the environment of chlorinated solvents.

5.   One variation of this technique, using buried walls of iron filings, is increasingly being used to remove chlorinated solvents, like dry-cleaning fluid, from ground water.

6.   The chlorinated solvents have become such ubiquitous pollutants because they were handled carelessly before their toxicity was recognized, or the vulnerability of ground water understood.

7.   The organisms break down chlorinated solvents, but not by using them as food.