Distribution coefficients (K d ) were measured for copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in laboratory batch experiments for 17 sandy aquifer materials at environmentally relevant solute concentrations (Cu: 5-300μg/l, Zn: 20-3100μg/l). The K d values ranged two to three orders of magnitude (Cu: 70-10,800l/kg; Zn: 6-22,800l/kg) and correlating them to the characteristics of the aquifer material (particle size distribution, organic C content, surface area, pH) revealed good correlation with pH in the range 5.3-8.9 (Cu: r 2 =0.72; Zn: r 2 =0.94). Including any other of the measured aquifer characteristics improved the correlation only a few percent. The results indicate that the mobility of Cu and Zn in sandy aquifers, as reflected in the measured K d values, is very restricted at pH values above 6, since the relative migration velocity is less than 1%. However, at lower pH values, Zn seems to become mobile in sandy aquifers.