U.S. Right to Know articles

More than half the calories Americans consume come from ultra-processed foods. Hundreds of scientific studies provide strong evidence that consuming these foods causes serious health risks. Our fact sheets compiling recent science are updated regularly.

Producing meat is one of the biggest sources of climate warming gases, and beef is the worst of the bunch, data shows. To clean up their image, leading meat producers including Tyson, one of the largest meat companies in the United States, have hired public relations and advertising firms, mirroring a strategy used by fossil fuel companies. 

Glyphosate, the world’s most widely used herbicide, may significantly raise the risk of an increasingly common chronic liver disease—even at low exposure levels, according to a new review of more than 40 scientific studies published over the past 17 years.

Older adults exposed to a mix of chemicals found in everyday products—such as food packaging, cosmetics, and printed receipts—may face a higher risk of memory loss and cognitive decline, according to a study published in April in the Journal of Affective Disorders. 

Efforts to curb the use of antimicrobials in farm animals and stem resistance to crucial antimicrobial medicines are at risk after layoffs at the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine earlier this month, warn legal experts and public health interest groups. 

Multiple large studies and meta-analyses link higher ultra-processed food intake to increased all-cause and disease-specific mortality, urging policy and dietary changes to reduce consumption.

Recent studies suggest private equity deals lead to more patient deaths and complications, among other adverse health outcomes.

New research finds that blocking the internet from your phone for two weeks could ease anxiety and depression and reverse years of attention decline, with lasting results.

Chemicals found in common food packaging plastics like cling film and snack pouches may interfere with the body’s natural 24-hour sleep-wake cycle, increasing the risk of sleep disorders, diabetes, immune problems, and even cancer, new research shows. 

In an era when digital devices increasingly dominate young people's lives, the social media industry is promoting unhealthy food consumption and behavior and contributing to the global childhood obesity epidemic, according to an international report.

An analysis by the U.S. Defense Department’s intelligence agency concluded five years ago that the virus that caused COVID-19 could have been engineered in a Chinese laboratory and later escaped to spawn the pandemic that eventually killed millions of people, recently released documents obtained by US Right to Know show.

Children exposed to higher levels of air pollution in their homes from birth to age three may develop weaker connections between key brain regions, with potentially long-lasting effects on future learning, behavior, and health, according to a major new study.

Residents of a North Carolina community – where the haze of pollution coats the inside and outside of residents’ homes with potentially harmful bacteria from nearby industrial animal farms – are working with researchers at Johns Hopkins University to test a technique that can measure pig manure in the dust.

Dozens of studies have linked aspartame -- the world's most widely used artificial sweetener -- to serious health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, seizures, stroke and dementia, as well as negative effects such as intestinal dysbiosis, mood disorders, headaches and migraines.

Exposure to "forever chemicals" in drinking water is significantly associated with the increased risk of multiple cancers, including some not previously linked to these toxic compounds, a first-of-its-kind study shows.

Glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide, disrupts female hormones and damages the ovaries and uterus in ways that can make it more difficult for women to get pregnant, according to a new review of human and animal research. 

Menthol cigarette smokers had a higher risk of dying from any health cause, including heart disease, compared to former non-menthol cigarette smokers, according to what researchers say is the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind.

In 2018, Louis Robert, an agronomist in Québec, was fired after releasing controversial research about the limited effectiveness of neonicotinoid pesticides.

Slaughterhouses and meat and poultry processing plants are among the nation’s most polluting industries. The wastewater is contaminated with the most phosphorus and the second highest levels of nitrogen of all industries.

U.S. medical specialists - from neurosurgeons to anesthesiologists and oncologists - received billions of dollars worth of individual payments not related to research from pharmaceutical and medical device industries in recent years, new research shows.

The gambling industry uses the same tactics as the tobacco industry to downplay harms and influence public opinion, science, and policy for the sake of profits over public health, according to a new study published in The BMJ.

Most infant formulas in the U.S. contain added sugars that can harm early development, new research shows. Babies may come upwards of 60 grams of added sugars -- the equivalent of two soft drinks per day -- if they are entirely formula-fed.

High exposure to multiple pesticides may cause childhood and adolescent cancers, especially brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Low-level traffic-related PM2.5 exposure in mice caused liver inflammation, fat accumulation, immune changes and altered proteins over 12 weeks, suggesting no safe exposure level for liver health.

Among all the contaminants in drinking water, nitrates are one of the most pervasive. They leach from chemical fertilizers and animal manure to pollute groundwater, rivers, and streams. Scientists and health advocates are worried that nitrates could also be behind hundreds of cancer cases in farming states across the U.S.