A University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) study on a species of worms in the seven lakes of San Pablo, Laguna found that they prevent intake of heavy metals by fish and may also do the same for humans. The study conducted by UPLB’s Institute of Biological Sciences and funded by the Department of Science and Technology’s National Research Council of the Philippines (DOST-NRCP), found that the species of Acanthocephala (Acanthogyrus sp.) also known as thorny-headed worm, can infect fish but help, more than harm, the host-fish. The thorny-headed worms are fish parasites that accumulate heavy metal concentration in their host’s tissues such as the gills and intestine.

Arcellana, R. A. (2016, October 27). In San Pablo lakes, metal intake curbed by worms. The Philippine Star, p. B-8.