Application of earthworm in environmental safety study

Earthworm is of significance in ecotoxicological diagnosis of environmental pollution, which is the basis of its application in environmental safety study. This paper overviewed several ecotoxicological diagnosing methods with earthworm, including acute toxicological test, field ecotoxicological test, biological detection of polluted environment, and micro-bioassays, discussed the research advances in monitoring environmental safety with earthworm, and summarized the application of earthworm in treating domestic wastes, agricultural organic wastes, and wastewater. The important ecological functions of earthworm in detoxifying polluted environment and the future development of earthworm's application were expatiated.