Abstract: The contamination status and distribution characteristics of 16 herbicides in the seawater of shellfish culture areas of the Yellow River Delta were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in three typical areas. The results showed that 10 herbicides were detected in the seawater of the shellfish culture area in the Yellow River Delta, among which 6 herbicides, including atrazine, prometryn, simetryn, ametryn, propazine and metolachlor , were found to have higher detection rates and average detection concentrations. The total average concentrations of 16 herbicides in the seawater of the shellfish culture area in July were lower than those in April and October in the same region. The average total concentration of 16 herbicides detected in the seawater of shellfish culture area in L region was lower than that in H and K region. The clustering analysis indicated that similar distribution characteristics were found among prometryn, simetryn and ametryn, but different for metolachlor. The distribution characteristics of atrazine and pendimethalin were not significant. Ecological risk analysis found moderate ecological risk for atrazine and metolachlor in seawater samples from shellfish culture areas in October, and for prometryn in April, July and October.