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The distributions of alkylphenol (AP) and bisphenol A (BPA) in marine organisms, including fish, prawns and molluscs, could reflect the exposure of AP and BPA directly and effectively. This paper provides the first report on the species-dependent distribution and the human health risks of four APs (4-t-octylphenol, 4-t-OP; 4-octylphenol, 4-OP;4-nonylphenol, 4-NP; 4-n-nonylphenol, 4-n-NP) and BPA in 95 wild and 88 processed marine biota samples from the East China Sea of the Yangtze River Delta area. 4-NP was the predominant compound with the highest detected concentration of 19,890.50 ng/g ww. Significant pollution was observed in Taizhou, Shanghai and Ningbo. The species-dependent distribution was related to food habits, living patterns and trophic transfer. Higher residual concentrations of 4-t-OP, 4-OP, 4-n-NP and BPA were observed in fish species that consumed benthic organisms or demersal fish species, whereas 4-NP showed different results due to trophic dilution. The trophic magnification factors (TMFs) of the linear APs (4-OP and 4-n-NP) (1.22–2.93) were higher than those of the branched ones (4-t-OP and 4-NP) (0.72–0.90), indicating the relative metabolism stability of linear APs. 4-NP has the lowest TMF value of 0.72, and its trophic dilution might be observed because the branched carbon chain exhibits the lowest dispersion force compared to that of the other APs. As for the health risk, 7-year old children may be exposed to the highest health risk of 4-NP with 95th percentile values of the hazard quotient of 0.22 to 0.23; however, the risks of the other chemicals were relatively low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]