{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T13:20:01Z","timestamp":1787318401649,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Yunnan International Joint Laboratory with South and Southeast Asia for the Integrated Development of Animal-Derived Anti-Thrombosis Chinese Medicine","award":["202503AP140025"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202503AP140025"]}]},{"name":"Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology","award":["202403AM140021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202403AM140021"]}]},{"name":"Identification of International Science and Technology Commissioners","award":["202403AK140027"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202403AK140027"]}]},{"name":"Yunnan Fundamental Research Projects","award":["202501AT070394"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202501AT070394"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2022M723447"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022M723447"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Scientific Research Fund project of the Education Department of Yunnan Province","award":["2025J0898"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025J0898"]}]},{"name":"National Foreign Experts Individual Category Program","award":["Y20240137"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Y20240137"]}]},{"name":"Canping Pan Academician Workstation in Yunnan Province","award":["202505AF350086"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["202505AF350086"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Biology"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Earthworms are widely used as biological indicators of soil contamination and are often referred to as the \u2018intestine of the soil\u2019; however, their effectiveness can vary across regions and environmental conditions. The performance of earthworms as indicators of soil pollution may vary among regions, and there is a need to assess their reliability under specific environmental conditions. So, in this study, soil and earthworm samples were collected from 19 locations across Punjab, Pakistan, to assess heavy metal pollution and bioaccumulation using geoaccumulation indices (Igeo) and bioaccumulation factors (BAF). Soil and earthworm tissues were digested and analyzed for heavy metals such as Sr, Zn, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mn, Co, Cr, Pb, Cd and Ni using ICP-MS. According to Igeo, cadmium frequently classified soils as strongly to extremely polluted, with values up to 4.5 in Bahawalnagar, whereas most other metals fell within the unpolluted to moderately polluted classes. Earthworms showed clear bioaccumulation (BAF &gt; 1) for several essential or poorly regulated elements, particularly Ca, Mn, Cu and Sr; the maximum BAF for Ca reached 8.18 in Faisalabad. In contrast, group-1 carcinogenic metals (Pb, Cd and Cr) generally did not exhibit strong bioaccumulation. Relationships between BAF and soil metal concentrations or abiotic properties (moisture, pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved and suspended solids) were generally weak (R2 typically \u2264 0.32), indicating that these factors explain only a modest fraction of the variation in metal uptake. Overall, the results highlight cadmium as the primary soil contamination risk in the surveyed areas. Because bioaccumulation showed weak relationships with soil metal concentrations and physicochemical parameters, earthworms in this study demonstrated limited effectiveness as bioindicators of toxic heavy metal accumulation. The limited internal accumulation of highly toxic metals suggests possible physiological regulation or tolerance, although the long-term ecological implications require further investigation. Further controlled studies are necessary to better evaluate their ecological role and potential applications in soil remediation, waste management, and vermicompost production.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/biology15040306","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T14:05:15Z","timestamp":1770645915000},"page":"306","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Heavy Metal Pollution and Assessment of the Bioaccumulation Potential of Earthworms from the Soil of Punjab, Pakistan"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ting","family":"Shen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biology and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"},{"name":"Yunnan International Joint Laboratory with South and Southeast Asia for the Integrated Development of Animal-Derived Anti-Thrombosis Chinese Medicine, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Javaria","family":"Altaf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"},{"name":"Institute of Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ghulam","family":"Abbas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biology and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"},{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6720-5463","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad","family":"Naeem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biology and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"},{"name":"Yunnan International Joint Laboratory with South and Southeast Asia for the Integrated Development of Animal-Derived Anti-Thrombosis Chinese Medicine, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"},{"name":"Department of Zoology, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Riphah International University, Faisalabad Campus, Faisalabad 44000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maryam","family":"Riasat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aqsa","family":"Sarwar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8689-8842","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rabiya","family":"Hussain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Zoology, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aqsa","family":"Faisal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Sciences, Beaconhouse College Programme, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Areej","family":"Fatima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Life Sciences, Beaconhouse College Programme, Faisalabad 38000, Punjab, Pakistan"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nawaz Haider","family":"Bashir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biology and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"},{"name":"Yunnan International Joint Laboratory with South and Southeast Asia for the Integrated Development of Animal-Derived Anti-Thrombosis Chinese Medicine, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9477-1014","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Huanhuan","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Biology and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"},{"name":"Yunnan International Joint Laboratory with South and Southeast Asia for the Integrated Development of Animal-Derived Anti-Thrombosis Chinese Medicine, Qujing Normal University, Qujing 655011, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.1016\/S1164-5563(00)00116-3","article-title":"The Use of Invertebrate Soil Fauna in Monitoring Pollutant Effects","volume":"35","author":"Cortet","year":"1999","journal-title":"Eur. 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