A Systematic Review on Earthworms in Soil Bioremediation

Abstract

Bioremediation techniques are increasingly popular in addressing soil pollution. Despite this, using earthworms as first actors or adjuvants in decontamination is an open and little-discussed field. This paper focuses on vermiremediation effectiveness alone or combined with other bioremediation methods, such as phytoremediation and bioaugmentation. Literature was collected following the PRISMA criteria, setting the search with the following keywords: “(vermiremediation) AND (bioremediation OR phytoremediation OR plant*) AND (bioaugmentation OR bacteria)”. The investigation was performed on Google Scholar, Science Direct, SciFinder and Web of Science databases. The article data were collected, compared, elaborated, graphically summarised and discussed to assess if the earthworms’ activities play a critical role in tackling several soil pollutions. Furthermore, the review aimed to identify the most promising techniques in the function of the xenobiotic examined: organic, inorganic or both. Any gaps and criticism were highlighted to facilitate future research in this study area.

Keywords

• vermiremediation
• phytoremediation
• bioaugmentation
• co-remediation
• <i>Eisenia fetida</i>
• organic contaminant