Abstract: The edible parts of 9 marine snails from Lianyungang sea area were analyzed for the contents of trace elements and the safety of heavy metal contents was evaluated. Different marine snails and different tissues of the same species showed variations in the contents of Pb, Cd, Sn, As, Mn, Fe, Ni, Ag, Se, Cr, Co, Zn and Cu. Essential trace elements for humans such as  Fe, Cu, Zn, Co, Mn, Cr, Se and Sn were found in all the tested snails, but the heavy metals As, Cd and Pb revealed a high residual index (I) and showed variations among different marine snails and among different tissues. All the snails had As contents exceeding the national food hygiene standard. As and Cd revealed the highest content in the foot muscle and visceral mass of Hemifusus tuba, respectively. Although Pb contents exceeding the national food hygiene standard were found in two samples of Umbonium thomasi (I = 6.5 and 5.5, respectively), the foot muscle of Glossaulax didyma (I = 2.1) and the visceral mass of H. tuba (I = 1.22), the foot muscle and visceral mass of other snails had safe Pb contents and I values smaller than 1. In addition, the foot muscle of H. tuba had a Cr I value of 1.21, while the Cr I values of the visceral mass of Glossaulax didyma and both tissues of eight other sails were less than 1.

Key words: snail, trace element, heavy metal, Lianyungang, analysis