Science reporter, BBC News
 Worms munching polluted and non-polluted soils showed different colours |
Researchers at Reading University found that subtle changes occurred in metals as worms ingested and excreted soil.
These changes make it easier for plants to take up potentially toxic metals from contaminated land.
Earthworms could be the future "21st Century eco-warriors", scientists suggested at the British Association Science Festival in Liverpool.
There are many sites across the UK with contaminated soil due to previous industrial activities, including mines, engineering works and lead smelters.
 |  The dream scenario is that the plants become so efficient at extracting the metals that you can take them off to a smelting plant  Mark Hodson |
Earthworms are ideal "soil detectives": their presence can act as a reliable indicator to the general health of the soil.
They have evolved a mechanism that allows them to survive in soils contaminated with toxic metals including arsenic, lead, copper and zinc.
"Earthworms produce metallothinein - a protein that is specifically designed to wrap around particular metals and keep them safe," explained Mark Hodson from the University of Reading.
"In broad terms, if an earthworm can cope with one type of metal, it can often cope with a suite of metals," he added.
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