With the rapid development of modernization and industrialization in China, a large quantity of heavy metals, including zinc, copper, lead, cadmium and mercury, have been entering the atmosphere, soil and water, the latter being the primary route of pollution. In the present study, in vitro experiments were performed to examine the joint toxicity and the underlying mechanisms of the eight most common heavy metals contaminating offshore waters on the eastern coast of Ningbo region. Using a cell cycle assay, cell apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection methods, the present study demonstrated that the heavy metal mixture arrested JB6 cells at the S phase, induced the generation of ROS and cell apoptosis. A luciferase assay indicated that the levels of activator protein‑1 and nuclear factor‑κB transcription factors were upregulated. Upregulation of the protein levels of C‑jun and p65 were detected in the JB6 cells by western blot analysis; these two genes have important roles in cell carcinogenesis. These results provide a useful reference for further investigations on the combined toxicity of the exposure to multiple heavy metals.