Abstract: In order to investigate the pollution status, chemical species and bioavailability of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn in the surface soils surrounding municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plants in the typical plain area, a MSWI located in Shanghai was taken as an example and the Tessier sequential extraction method with inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy were used to analyze the total amount and species distribution of the heavy metals. The ecological risks of the heavy metals were assessed with the risk assessment code (RAC) method. The results showed that Pb and Zn were mostly bound to the Fe-Mn oxides and residual fractions (>80%), while Cr, Cu and Ni primarily existed in the residual fractions (>60%). By contrast, Cd was mainly in residual fractions (>50%), but a relatively high portion was bound to the carbonates compared with other heavy metals. The bioavailability analysis indicated that Cr, Cu and Ni remained in inert state with low bioavailability, whereas Cd, Pb and Zn had a high level of potential bioavailability with a high release risk. The potential ecological risks of these heavy metals were ranked in the order of Cd > Zn > Pb > Cu > Ni > Cr, in which Cr and Ni presented no any risk, while Cu, Pb and Zn had a low risk. However, Cd was found to have a moderate-level of risk. This study revealed that different degrees of heavy metal accumulation occurred in the vicinity of this MSWI plant. Cd had a relatively high level of potential bioavailability and reached a medium risk, which should be paid attention to.