Cathodic protection by sacrificial zinc anodes is often applied to prevent immerged metallic structures from corrosion. But this technique induces the zinc anodes dissolution, which can induce marine sediments and seawater contamination. A large scale experiment, in natural seawater, was conducted during 12 months, in order to evaluate the potential environmental impact of this continuous zinc dissolution, and of some necessary cleaning operations of the anodes surfaces. The heavy metal (Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn) concentration in water and sediment samples was monitored. A sequential extraction procedure was applied on sediment samples to differentiate the zinc mobile fractions from the residual one. A significant increase of zinc concentration was observed in water as well as in the surface sediments under the specific operating conditions. Sediments then become a secondary pollution source, as the sorbed labile zinc can be remobilized to seawater. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved