Abstract: Oil spills are the most common marine emergencies, and serious marine oil spills often cause significant damage to the marine ecosystem. Petroleum hydrocarbon components in the environment are complex and difficult to degrade. In addition, petroleum hydrocarbons have the three effects of carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic, easy to be enriched in marine organisms, and cause serious impacts on the growth, survival and reproduction of marine organisms. This paper reviews recent studies about the toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbon to bivalve shellfish at home and abroad, including the toxicity of petroleum hydrocarbons, the accumulation rule in bivalve shellfish. In addition, it also includes the impacts on the health of the body, such as the damage of petroleum hydrocarbons to the antioxidant enzyme system in bivalve shellfish, as well as the impacts on the bivalve shellfish genes. At last, the future research direction of petroleum hydrocarbon toxicity to bivalve shellfish are prospected. These results provide references for further studies on toxicological mechanism and marine ecological restoration.