Li Li, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Li Li

Summary

Li Li is an environmental modeler working at the intersection of environmental chemistry, industrial ecology and exposure and health sciences. He develops, evaluates and applies mechanistically sound and computationally efficient models to help understand how human-made chemicals (e.g., pesticides, disinfectants, flame retardants, surfactants, plasticizers) and materials (e.g., nanomaterials, microplastics) accumulate, move and transform across human socioeconomic systems, indoor and natural environments, food webs and the human body. His work advances understanding of the fundamental principles that govern the behavior and impacts of chemical substances and materials; it also supports science-based chemical assessment and prioritization in policy decision-making.

Li teaches courses related to environmental health and exposure sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has led research projects funded by organizations such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environment and Climate Change Canada and the U.S. National Institutes of Health. He also serves on several academic and regulatory organizations in the U.S. and internationally, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals.

Li earned his Ph.D. from Peking University in China in 2017, where his doctoral research was recognized with the “Springer Theses” Outstanding Ph.D. Research Award. He worked as a Mitacs postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto Scarborough in Canada from 2017 to 2019, before joining the University of Nevada, Reno. He received the 2024 Nevada Regents’ Rising Researcher Award from the Nevada System of Higher Education. 

In the news

Selected publications

Environmental systems modeling

  • Zhang, Z., Wang, S. & Li, L. (2025). Insights from modeling the fate of and exposure to persistent and mobile organic chemicals using the refined PROTEX model. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. (In press)
  • Miramontes Gonzalez, P.♯ & Li, L. (2024). Evaluating the environmental persistence of liquid crystal monomers indoors and outdoors. ACS Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 11(2), 216-222.
  • Zhang, Z.♯, Sangion, A., Wang, S.♯, Gouin, T., Brown, T., Arnot, J. A. & Li, L. (2023). Hazard vs. exposure: Does it make a difference in identifying chemicals with persistence and mobility concerns? Water Research, 245, 120610.
  • Li, L., Sangion, A., Wania, F., Armitage, J., Toose, L., Hughes, L. & Arnot, J. (2021). Development and evaluation of a holistic and mechanistic modeling framework for chemical emissions, fate, exposure, and risk. Environmental Health Perspectives, 129(12), 127006.
  • Liu, Q., Li, L., Zhang, X., Saini, A., Li, W., Hung, H., Hao, C., Li, K., Lee, P., Wentzell, J. J. B., Huo, C., Li, S., Harner, T. & Liggio, J. (2021). Uncovering global-scale risks from commercial chemicals in air. Nature, 600, 456-461.
  • Li, L., Arnot, J. A. & Wania, F. (2018). Revisiting the contributions of far- and near-field routes to aggregate human exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Environmental Science & Technology, 52(12), 6974-6984.
  • Li, L., Arnot, J. A. & Wania, F. (2018). Towards a systematic understanding of the dynamic fate of polychlorinated biphenyls in indoor, urban and rural environments. Environment International, 117, 57-68.

Environmental exposure chemistry

  • Wang, S.♯, Zhang, Z.♯, Saunders, L. J., Li, D. & Li, L. (2024). Understanding the impacts of presystemic metabolism on the human oral bioavailability of chemicals. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(26), 14135-14145.
  • Wang, S.♯, Zhang, Z.♯, Li, D & Li, L. (2024). Elucidating impacts of partitioning and transmembrane permeability on absorption of chemicals in the human gastrointestinal tract. Environment International, 193, 109108. 
  • Olsen, A. K.♯, Li, D. & Li, L. (2023). Explore the dosimetric relationship between the intake of chemical contaminants and their occurrence in blood and urine. Environmental Science & Technology, 57(26), 9526-9537.
  • Li, L., Zhang, Z.♯, Men, Y., Baskaran, S., Sangion, A., Wang, S.♯, Arnot, J. & Wania, F. (2022). Retrieval, selection, and evaluation of chemical property data for assessments of chemical emissions, fate, hazard, exposure, and risks. ACS Environmental Au, 2(5), 376-395.
  • Wang, S.♯, Zhang, Z.♯, Li, D., Illa, E. S.♯ & Li, L. (2022). In silico model-based exploration of the applicability of parallel artificial membrane permeability assay (PAMPA) to screen chemicals of environmental concern. Environment International, 170, 107589.
  • Zhang, Z.♯, Wang, S.♯ & Li, L. (2021). The role of chemical properties in human exposure to environmental chemicals. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 23, 1839-1862.
  • Li, D., Sangion, A. & Li, L. (2020). Evaluating consumer exposure to disinfecting chemicals against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated health risks. Environment International, 145, 106108.
  • Li, L., Arnot, J. A. & Wania, F. (2019). How are humans exposed to organic chemicals released to indoor air? Environmental Science & Technology, 53(19), 11276-11284.

♯ = supervised graduate and undergraduate students

Education

  • Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, Peking University
  • B.Sc. in Environmental Sciences, Nankai University