An Li
Professor Emerita
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
Pronouns: she/her
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About
As an environmental chemist, I study and research on how human activities influence the natural environment and how the changes in turn affect human health. Among countless number of chemicals, my research team particularly focuses on persistent, bioaccumulative, and potentially toxic organic chemicals. We have measured many groups of legacy and emerging pollutants in air, water, soil, dust, sludge, and sediment. The data allowed us to see how these chemicals transport and transform in the ecosystem, and how such behavior depends on molecular structure and other factors. We also investigate the presence of such pollutants in human. For example, our data from blood and placenta tissue samples are being used in epigenetic studies and are useful to understand the mechanisms of across-placenta transfer among chemicals.
Selected Publications
Asha Rani, Ravi Ranjan, Solidea M. C. Bonina, Mahsa Izadmehr, John P. Giesy, An Li, Neil C. Sturchio, Karl J. Rockne. Aqueous Geochemical Controls on the Sestonic Microbial Community in Lakes Michigan and Superior. Microorganisms (in print). 2023.
Mei Liu, An Li, Lingling Meng, Gaoxin Zhang, Xiaoling Guan, Jiang Zhu, Yingming Li, Qinghua Zhang, Guibin Jiang. Exposure to Novel Brominated Flame Retardants and Organophosphate Esters and Risk of Thyroid Cancer: A Case-Control Study in Eastern China. Environmental Science and Technology. 56, 24, 17825–17835. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c04759. 2022.
Siyuan Xiong; Yanfen Hao; Jianjie Fu; Ruiqiang Yang; An Li; Qinghua Zhang; Yingming Li; Guibin Jiang. Legacy and novel brominated flame retardants in air of Ny-Ålesund, Arctic from 2011 to 2019. Environmental Pollution. 313, 120195. https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1fnJPzLNSc9kJ. 2022.
Chuxuan Zhao, An Li, Zhang Gaoxin, Yiyao Pan, Lingling Meng, Ruiqiang Yang, Yingming Li, Qinghua Zhang, Guibin Jiang. Parent and halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in serum of coal-fired power plant workers: Levels, sex differences, accumulation trends, and risks. Environmental Science and Technology. 56, 17, 12431–12439. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c03099. 2022.
An Li, Shanshan Zhou, Huan He, Jiehong Guo, Neil C. Sturchio, Karl J. Rockne, John P. Giesy. Polyhalogenated carbazoles in sediments of lower Great Lakes and regional perspectives. ACS ES&T Water. 2, 1544-1554. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestwater.2c00191. Featured as the Cover Story. https://pubs.acs.org/toc/aewcaa/2/9. 2022.
Erik R. Christensen, Yin Wang, Jingwan Huo, An Li. Fate and transport of persistent and mobile polar organic water pollutants: A review. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 10, 107201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.107201. 2022.
An Li, Qiaozhi Tang, Kenneth E. Kearney, Kathryn L. Nagy, Jing Zhang, Susan Buchanan, Mary E. Turyk. Persistent and Toxic Chemical Pollutants in Fish Consumed by Asians in Chicago, United States. Science of the Total Environment. 811, 152214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152214, and https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154055. 2022
Yi-Ling Cheng, Ruijie Zhang, Louis Tisinger, Salvatore Cali, Zhou Yu, Hua Yun Chen, An Li. Characterization of Microplastics in Sediment using Stereomicroscopy and Laser Direct Infrared (LDIR) Spectroscopy. Gondwana Research. 108, 22-30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2021.10.002. 2022.
Mei Liu, Gaoxin Zhang, Lingling Meng, Xu Han, Yingming Li, Yali Shi, An Li, Mary E. Turyk, Qinghua Zhang, Guibin Jiang. Associations between Novel and Legacy Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Human Serum and Thyroid Cancer: A Case and Healthy Population in Shandong Province, East China. Environmental Science and Technology. 56, 10, 6144–6151. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c02850. 2022.
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Notable Honors
2017, Dr. Samuel and Mrs. Catherine Epstein Term Professor in Cancer Prevention, https://publichealth.uic.edu/news-stories/sph-names-dr-samuel-and-mrs-catherine-epstein-term-professor-in-cancer-prevention/