Concentrations of seven heavy metals were determined in the clams Meretrix meretrix collected from the northern coastal area of Dongying City in October, 2016, to explore the contamination characteristic of these metals. Bioaccumulation and its influence factors of the heavy metals by M. meretrix from sediment environment were discovered. Consumption risk for these clams was also evaluated using the single factor pollution index (P_i) and the target hazard quotients (THQ_s) models. Results demonstrated that the concentrations of Hg, As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, and Zn varied as 0.009~0.019, 0.51~0.80, 0.25~0.76, 0.45~0.76, 0.43~2.46, 1.83~3.78, and 14.33~17.75mg/kg, respectively. Comparing with other coastal areas, the contamination of heavy metals was at medium level in the clams M. meretrix investigated in this study. The contamination of heavy metals was the worst in the clams from the sampling site S5 based on the metal pollution index (MPI) model. The highest bioaccumulation capacity in M. meretrix occurred for Cd, and the average biota-sediment accumulation factor (BSAF) was calculated as 455.13%. Among these heavy metals, only Pb presented a significant positive correlation between its BSAF value and total content in sediment, while the bioaccumulation of Hg and Cu were positively and negatively correlated with the fine grain size (particle size <63μm, FGS) and organic matter (OM) contents in the sediments, respectively. The THQ_s values indicated that a potential health risk will be mainly caused by the heavy metal As through a long-term clam consumption. Therefore, some effective measures should be taken to reduce the accumulation of heavy metals, especially the element As, in clams in order to protect consumer health.