The study described in this article was designed to estimate the dietary intake of lead, cadmium, and mercury due to the shellfish consumption of the population in Nha Trang City, Vietnam. The lead, cadmium, and mercury concentrations in the shellfish consumed popularly by the Nha Trang population were investigated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry from May 2008 to January 2009. The lead, cadmium, and mercury concentration ranges in shellfish are equal to 0.008-0.083, 0.013-0.056, and 0.028-0.056 mg/kg, respectively. The dietary intake of these elements was determined by a total diet study. The heavy metals intake was estimated for six subpopulation groups: men and women aged 18-29, 30-54, and > or =55. The dietary intakes of lead, cadmium, and mercury by the Nha Trang population are currently well below the provisional tolerable weekly intakes of lead, cadmium, and mercury, respectively. Therefore, no risk exists concerning the levels of exposure of Nha Trang consumers to the contaminants studied due to shellfish consumption.