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U.S. Right to Know articles
Reporting from U.S. Right to Know, a nonprofit newsroom covering public health.
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U.S. Right to Know articlesScientists say this pesticide needs a warning label for pollinators
Recent research reveals that the agricultural pesticide buprofezin may cause severe larval mortality in honey bees, prompting experts to call for stricter EPA…
U.S. Right to Know articlesPesticide lobby touts MAHA report rollback as its biggest win of 2025
CropLife America successfully lobbied the MAHA Commission to remove proposed pesticide restrictions from its final strategy, marking a significant victory for…
U.S. Right to Know articlesHow food companies turn taxpayer-funded school meals into a market for ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed food companies heavily market their products and brands through a program that lets schools send fresh USDA-supplied ingredients for…
U.S. Right to Know articlesBabies exposed to microplastics and hormone-disrupting chemicals through formula, plastic bottles, infant feeding supplies
Babies may consume millions of microplastics and traces of harmful chemicals through infant formula, plastic bottles, and other feeding products.
U.S. Right to Know articlesBefore COVID, an NIH lab chief proposed making a SARS-like bat virus more infectious
On a Sunday morning in October 2019, the chief of the virus ecology unit at the National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories emailed a…
U.S. Right to Know articlesDrug company gifts, meals, and payments to doctors lead to worse prescribing, review of 93 studies finds
Gifts, payments, free meals, and other marketing ploys by pharmaceutical companies heavily influence doctors to prescribe more drugs, choose less appropriate…
U.S. Right to Know articlesHormone-disrupting chemical mixtures linked to excess childhood weight
Children exposed during pregnancy and early life to combinations of chemicals that disrupt hormones and metabolism may face a greater risk of excess weight…
U.S. Right to Know articlesRalph Baric warned COVID statement could be used for 'nefarious purposes to shift blame,' email shows
Newly released emails reveal virologist Ralph Baric's private concerns about being pressured to publicly defend his lab's research during the early, tense days…
U.S. Right to Know articlesBill Gates promised Africa a farm productivity revolution. The data show sluggish yield growth and rising hunger.
Twenty years ago, the Gates and Rockefeller foundations launched the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), promising agricultural transformation…
U.S. Right to Know articlesTracking the Trump administration’s favors to the pesticide industry
Over the past 18 months, the Trump administration has delivered a string of victories to the pesticide industry that could reshape pesticide use and public…
U.S. Right to Know articlesBig Tobacco promotes e-cigarettes, undermines health protections through U.S. business groups worldwide
Tobacco companies remain embedded in influential U.S. business groups worldwide, giving the industry a discreet and powerful channel to weaken regulation and…
U.S. Right to Know articlesNewly Declassified 2020 Intelligence Assessment Found Wuhan Lab’s Conditions Were Ripe For Potential Coronavirus Release
A newly declassified Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory assessment from May 2020 concluded that all of the conditions necessary for an accidental release…
U.S. Right to Know articlesNewly released U.S. intelligence memo reveals plans for independent COVID origins study
Newly released intelligence records show that as recently as January 2025, the U.S. intelligence community planned to create an independent panel of outside…
U.S. Right to Know articlesPFAS ‘forever chemicals’ may be linked to multiple sclerosis, especially in women
Women with higher blood levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — known as PFAS or "forever chemicals" — may be more likely to have multiple sclerosis…
U.S. Right to Know articlesPesticide use around homes and farms linked to childhood leukemia, brain tumors
Forty years of studies find higher cancer risks among children exposed during pregnancy and early life to pesticides used on farms, lawns, gardens, and pets.
U.S. Right to Know articlesNearly 300 studies link the common pesticide chlorpyrifos to multi-organ damage, DNA disruption, and chronic disease
Growing evidence suggests chlorpyrifos may damage the brain, hormones, liver, gut microbiome, muscles, reproductive organs, and bones.
U.S. Right to Know articlesNeonicotinoid health risks: widespread exposure, growing evidence of harm
A growing body of scientific evidence raises concerns about the human health risks of neonicotinoid exposure, including neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity.
U.S. Right to Know articlesCIA whistleblower alleges COVID lab-leak findings were suppressed by agency
CIA analysts concluded multiple times that COVID-19 most likely originated from a laboratory, but intelligence leaders repeatedly altered those findings in…
U.S. Right to Know articlesVaping drives toxic metals into lungs within days
E-cigarettes can quickly lodge toxic metals deep into the lungs, where they may damage tissue, according to new research that provides detailed evidence about…
U.S. Right to Know articlesReducing use of personal care products quickly lowers toxic chemicals in the body
Switching from conventional personal care products to nontoxic alternatives can rapidly and significantly reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.
U.S. Right to Know articlesIndictment of Fauci adviser shines new light on efforts to conceal COVID-Era communications
The indictment Tuesday of a top adviser to former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci on charges of conspiring against the United States casts a spotlight on years of…
U.S. Right to Know articlesModern Ag Alliance is a Bayer lobbying and PR group
The Modern Ag Alliance, launched by Bayer in 2024, enables the company to lobby and campaign through an entity that looks like a coalition of farm…
U.S. Right to Know articlesSolo screen time is a “unique peril" for young children already at risk, researchers report
Solitary screen time on TVs, phones or tablets may worsen behavioral and emotional challenges in young children who struggle with language skills, a new study…
U.S. Right to Know articlesUltra-processed foods may raise risk of preterm birth and pregnancy complications, study finds
Ultra-processed foods, now a dominant part of the American diet, may raise the risk of serious pregnancy complications, including preterm birth and blood…
U.S. Right to Know articlesPharma bribery corrupts health care, puts patients at risk, new review warns
Sham clinical studies, slush funds, luxury gifts, and shell companies: A new review shows how pharma firms allegedly bribed their way to drug approvals and…
U.S. Right to Know articlesPR firm linked to Gates-backed AGRA edited Wikipedia to remove criticism
Powerful institutions are using covert tactics to shape how they are portrayed online.
U.S. Right to Know articlesFive ways that transparency failures harm our health
Five federal transparency failings – FOIA shortcomings, weak congressional oversight, dark money in elections, inadequate lobbying disclosure and secrecy in…
U.S. Right to Know articlesEmails show Wuhan scientist suggested hand-carrying research antibodies to China
Emails reveal Wuhan virologist Zhengli Shi asked a U.S. collaborator to hand-carry antibodies to China, bypassing formal shipping protocols.
U.S. Right to Know articlesNIH files reveal broader coronavirus engineering research before COVID-19
Documents show scientists across multiple U.S.-funded projects proposed altering spike proteins and cleavage sites in bat viruses — work that echoed ideas…
U.S. Right to Know articlesTrump administration asks Supreme Court to back Bayer again, aided by officials who came from Bayer’s law firms
The Trump administration yesterday handed Bayer another win, urging the Supreme Court in a new brief to side with the German pesticide company in a high-stakes…
U.S. Right to Know articlesAir pollution tied to brain aging, memory loss later in life, study finds
A study reveals that early 2000s air pollution exposure significantly impaired older adults' memory by 2011, equating to years of cognitive aging, regardless…
U.S. Right to Know articlesTracing Bayer’s ties to power in Trump’s Washington
Our review of Bayer’s access in Washington found 16 key administration officials with ties to Bayer’s lobbying or legal network. Bayer and its lobbyists have…
U.S. Right to Know articlesBayer lobby tracker
Here we list Bayer's 13 lobbying firms and the company’s in-house lobbyists.
U.S. Right to Know articlesOne exposure. Twenty generations later, the damage is still unfolding
A single exposure to a toxic agricultural fungicide during pregnancy can echo through 20 generations — with inherited disease risks from kidney disease to…
U.S. Right to Know articles'Safe' BPA substitutes tied to fertility damage, fetal harm, and generational effects, review finds
Chemicals increasingly used to replace the controversial plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA) may disrupt fertility, fetal development, and reproductive health…
U.S. Right to Know articlesEnergy Department's lab-leak pivot likely not driven by new intelligence, records suggest
Internal documents suggest the Department of Energy's reported shift on COVID-19 origins was a clarification of misconstrued data rather than a new analytical…
U.S. Right to Know articlesNanoplastics sneak into brain cells, disrupting puberty and fertility hormones, new study finds
Tiny pieces of plastic, widely found in food, water, and air, can harm the development and function of specialized brain cells that regulate reproduction, new…
U.S. Right to Know articlesDefense Intelligence Agency considered lab leak scenario in March 2020, new records show
More than six years after COVID-19 emerged in China and killed millions worldwide, newly released intelligence records show that the Defense Intelligence…
U.S. Right to Know articlesPacifiers, even those labeled “BPA-free,” expose babies to toxic chemical, study finds
Pacifiers can release bisphenol A, a chemical linked to hormone disruption and developmental problems, with the highest levels found in one marketed as…
U.S. Right to Know articlesWhen profit kills: How private equity is eroding health care
A growing wave of peer-reviewed studies supports the same troubling conclusion: When private equity incentives collide with clinical care, patients—especially…
U.S. Right to Know articles‘Ubiquitous’ flame retardants are linked to higher heart disease risks, major review finds
Flame-retardant chemicals widely used in sofas, mattresses, electronics, textiles, and other products are increasingly linked to cardiovascular disease risk…
U.S. Right to Know articlesUltra-processed foods damage health in ways that calories don't explain, new study says
Researchers are getting closer to solving the riddle of how ultra-processed foods harm metabolic, reproductive, and immune health in ways that can't be…
U.S. Right to Know articlesIs RFK Jr. backing Big Food's drive to overturn tough new state laws?
Kennedy promotes MAHA while discussing a national food standard that could override state bans on ultra-processed ingredients, raising concerns about federal…
U.S. Right to Know articlesSocial media fuels smoking and vaping among children, especially girls, study shows
Children and teens who spend hours scrolling social media are far more likely to smoke or vape than their peers, with the highest risks seen among girls and…
U.S. Right to Know articlesCongress orders spy agencies to consider declassifying evidence on COVID origins
New language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2026 calls on intelligence agencies to declassify intelligence records for public release…
U.S. Right to Know articlesHormone-disrupting chemicals contaminate breast milk, global review shows; scientists say breastfeeding is still best
Breast milk from mothers around the world contains a wide range of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) – such as bisphenols, perfluorinated chemicals…
U.S. Right to Know articlesLandmark glyphosate safety study retracted for Monsanto ghostwriting, other ethics problems
A scientific study that regulators around the world relied on for decades to justify continued approval of glyphosate was quietly retracted last Friday over…
U.S. Right to Know articlesCritiques of Gates Foundation's agricultural interventions in Africa
Critics say the Gates Foundation's push to expand chemical-intensive monocrop farming in Africa is exacerbating hunger, worsening inequality and entrenching…
U.S. Right to Know articlesAtrazine probably causes cancer in humans, WHO cancer agency says
The World Health Organization’s cancer research agency has classified atrazine – the second most widely used herbicide in the United States – as “probably…
U.S. Right to Know articlesHigher screen time linked to brain abnormalities and ADHD symptoms in children, study shows
Children who spend more time on mobile phones, TVs, and video games may face a higher risk of developing attention problems as they grow, according to a…
U.S. Right to Know articlesAtrazine, an endocrine-disrupting herbicide banned in Europe, is widely used in the U.S.
Atrazine is the second-most widely used weed killer in the U.S., with more than 70 million pounds applied across the nation each year. It is an endocrine…
U.S. Right to Know articlesWorld’s most used insecticides damage male fertility in rodents, researchers say
Neonicotinoid pesticides, the world’s most widely used class of insecticides, are linked to male reproductive toxicity in lab animals, especially at higher…
U.S. Right to Know articlesBig Food 'transparency' campaign seeks to block tough new food safety laws
Instead of listening to their customers, the world’s largest food and beverage companies have launched a “transparency” campaign – fronted by a longtime…
U.S. Right to Know articlesAir pollution, even at low levels, may heighten breast cancer risk
Women who live in areas with more air pollution may face a higher risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new, large-scale study of more than 400,000…
U.S. Right to Know articlesAmericans for Ingredient Transparency: Product defense for unhealthy ultra-processed foods
Americans for Ingredient Transparency is funded by large ultra-processed food and beverage companies, including General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé, Tyson…
U.S. Right to Know articlesCommon preservative may harm female fertility across generations, study finds
Propylparaben, a widely used preservative found in shampoos, lotions, packaged foods, and pharmaceuticals, may harm ovarian function and reduce fertility…
U.S. Right to Know articlesAre your baby’s clothes toxic? New study finds harmful chemicals in infant textiles
Infant clothing may expose babies to hundreds of different chemicals used in everything from plastics to pesticides -- including some known to be toxic, a new…
U.S. Right to Know articlesCommon male cancer linked to hormone-disrupting chemicals, scientists warn
Chemicals found in everyday products—from plastics and pesticides to cosmetics and non-stick cookware — interfere with the body’s hormone systems in ways that…
U.S. Right to Know articlesSome ultra-processed foods are as addictive as cigarettes and cocaine
Ultra-processed foods are industrially formulated with added sugar, artificial sweeteners, additives and flavorings to be highly rewarding and even addictive.
U.S. Right to Know articlesNIH committee green-lighted Wuhan coronavirus experiments despite concerns, emails show
Recently obtained emails for the first time lay bare the NIH "gain-of-function" review committee's informal vetting of a controversial project in Wuhan…