The College of Education for Pure Sciences, Department of Life Sciences, has researched a doctoral thesis on evaluating the effectiveness of annelid worms (Lumbricus terrestris) in removing petroleum hydrocarbons and some heavy metals from polluted soils in Basra Governorate, Iraq. The thesis, presented by the researcher (Buthaina Mahdi Younis), included the University of Basra's efforts to support sustainable environmental research. The study addressed the problem of oil pollution in soil, which is the most dangerous type of pollution, and presented innovative biological solutions using annelid worms as a natural agent to treat these pollutants. The results showed the ability of these worms to remove hydrocarbons and some heavy elements from soils and improve their physical and chemical properties. This study opens new horizons in the field of bioremediation with worms.

.