Objective To investigate the content of cadmium in shellfish in Guangdong Province and make dietary exposure assessment of cadmium in shellfish. Methods The shellfish samples were collected from Pearl River Delta, Eastern and Western Guangdong Province using random sampling method. Point assessment method was used to evaluate the exposure of dietary cadmium intake from shellfish. The risk of dietary cadmium exposure from shellfish were evaluated. Results Three hundred and seven samples were included in the analysis. The median concentration of cadmium in shellfish was 0.630 mg/kg and the exceeding standard rate was 23.8% (73/307). The exceeding standard rates in Eastern Guangdong, Western Guangdong and Pearl River Delta were 19.4% (13/67), 23.5% (16/68), and 25.6% (44/172), respectively. The corresponding median concentration of cadmium were 0.530,0.806 and 0.853 mg/kg, and the difference was not statistically significant (χ²=0.94, P>0.05). The average (P50) and high level (P97.5) daily intake of cadmium from shellfish by the total survey population was 0.957 μg/d, and 4.511 μg/d, respectively. The monthly intake of cadmium associated with shellfish calculated from average and P97.5 exposure doses accounted for 1.91% and 9.02% of PTMI, respectively. Conclusion The cadmium content of some shellfish in Guangdong Province exceeded the standard. However, the cadmium intake from shellfish by the survey population was not high.