Considering the importance of having pure and non-toxic calcium hydroxyapatite (Ca-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(10), CHAp) for a number of biomedical applications, and the significant role of iron in bone regeneration and remodelling, in this study Fe-doped/substituted calcium hydroxyapatite (Fe(x)/CHAp; (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 mol%)) was synthesized via simple sol-gel method employing Macoma balthica (L.) sea shells as the precursor of calcium. The synthesized Fe(x)/CHAp powders were characterized applying the following analytical techniques: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The obtained results were in good agreement with the standard values for calcium hydroxyapatite, which indicated successful formation of the Fe-doped/substituted calcium hydroxyapatite. (C) 2015 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.