To study the effects of heavy metal Cd and Cu in freshwater sediment on the freshwater benthic organism, the burrowing behavior of Corbicula fluminea within 12 hours and survival rate during 10days were analyzed. The results showed that Corbicula fluminea exhibited a significant avoidance behavior to the spiked Cd and Cu in freshwater sediment. Within 12 hours, the response of Corbicula fluminea to Cd in sediment is more sensitive than Cu. Under exposure to Cd and Cu at 10mg/kg, the burrowing rate of Corbicula fluminea were 0.39 and 0.43, respectively. In the survival test during 10 days, the survival rate of Corbicula fluminea decreased corresponding to the increase of Cd and Cu concentrations. At 10mg/kg of spiked Cd in sediments, the survival rate of Corbicula fluminea was 93.3%. However, the survival rate dropped to 43.3% at 300mg/kg. For spiked Cu in sediment, the survival rate of Corbicula fluminea was 96.3% at 10mg/kg and decreased to 34.3% at 500mg/kg. The LC₅₀ of Corbicula fluminea were 285mg/kg for spiked Cd and 690mg/kg for spiked Cu, respectively. All these data revealed that Corbicula fluminea was more sensitive to the toxicity of Cd. By comparing the indicative features of burrowing behavior and survival rate of Corbicula fluminea when exposed to heavy metal Cd and Cu, burrowing behavior was found to be more quickly and more obviously than survival rate., indicating that a high priority should be given to burrowing behavior in heavy metal contamination monitoring.