Heavy elements including He, O, and others are present in the interstellar medium surrounding the heliosphere. They form the source for heavy pickup ions and anomalous cosmic rays in the heliosphere. Kinetic numerical models are used to study the entrance and the heliospheric distribution of neutrals and singly charged ions of helium and oxygen as they interact through charge exchange with the neutral and ionized hydrogen of the heliosphere. A representative hydrogen heliospheric model is used to study the heavy element distributions and charge exchange mean free paths, and obtain key results such as filtration ratios and increased heavy neutral densities (walls). © 2004 American Institute of Physics