Gary Ruskin

@garyruskin

executive director, @USRightToKnow, working to expose corporate wrongdoing and government failures threatening our health, food and environment.

Joined October 2008

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22KFollowers

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 21

Watch the revolving door spin: Venus Welch-White has left EPA as acting director of the Office of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to become director of government relations at CropLife America, the pesticide industry trade association. Is it a surprise that federal regulation of…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jun 23

Texas leads the way. "Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed sweeping legislation Sunday to slap warning labels on potentially tens of thousands of food and beverage packages — a move that could have ripple effects across the country." Via @washingtonpost washingtonpost.com/health/2025/06…

garyruskin's tweet card. The new law will require labels on foods containing 44 dyes or additives commonly found in the country’s food supply, such as in baked goods, candy and drinks.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jun 13

"The North Carolina press, state legislature, and the university system’s executive office must take a proactive role in shedding light on extreme virology in NC. Transparency is the first step toward accountability." Via @R_H_Ebright @CosmicTusk carolinajournal.com/opinion/uncove…

garyruskin's tweet card. UNC-Chapel Hill’s virology program faces scrutiny for risky coronavirus research tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. UNC-Chapel Hill’s virology program faces scrutiny for risky coronavirus research tied...

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 24

Microplastics Wreaking Havoc on Human Hormones, Fertility, a New Review Says Via @ngreports @USRightToKnow usrtk.org/healthwire/mic…

garyruskin's tweet card. The chemicals in microplastics cause a plethora of health impacts including harming people’s hormonal systems leading to infertility, and neurological and behavior disorders among other issues, a new...

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 23

Latest Trump administration big favor to the pesticide industry: EPA re-registers #dicamba, an herbicide that has twice been banned by federal courts. washingtonpost.com/climate-enviro… Our fact sheet on dicamba: usrtk.org/pesticides/dic…

garyruskin's tweet card. Dicamba, a widely used herbicide, is linked to damage to millions of acres of crops, environmental problems and health concerns.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 22

Study links 'forever chemicals' to increased risk of type 2 diabetes medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-l… "we showed that exposure to the #PFAS mixture may be associated with higher odds for T2D [type 2 diabetes] over a ∼6-year follow-up period." Via @eBioMedicine thelancet.com/journals/EBIOM…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 22

A small but worthy bipartisan step forward on microplastics: the Microplastics Safety Act, to require the FDA to produce a report for Congress on the health effects of exposure to microplastics. merkley.senate.gov/merkley-bynum-…

garyruskin's tweet card. Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (OR-05) partnered with Florida’s U.S. Senator Rick Scott and U.S. Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17) to...

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 18

Today, we filed #FOIA lawsuits against the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Energy (DOE). In the case against the CIA, we seek intelligence related to General Zhou Yusen, who led a research team from the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 18

"Trump administration officials say the White House has no plans to crack down on pesticides in farming, despite a report led by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that called crop protection chemicals a danger to people’s health." Via @POLITICOPro subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025/0…

garyruskin's tweet card. Several farm lobbyists remain skeptical the Trump administration will defend their interests as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. looks to overhaul the nation's food supply.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 14

Five years ago this month we filed our first Freedom of Information request to investigate what is known – and may have been covered up – about the origins of COVID-19, the risks of gain-of-function research and safety lapses at biolabs. Since then, we have filed 190 FOI…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 11

Today, we filed a #FOIA lawsuit against the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) for their latest assessment or intelligence report on the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. usrtk.org/wp-content/upl… This is our 34th public records lawsuit for documents related to the origin of…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 10

Here's an award-winning documentary on #glyphosate and pesticide industry #PR: Glyphosate controversy: inside the pesticide industry’s PR game. Via @ZEMBLA @TonvanderHam @VJHarmsen youtube.com/watch?v=KOkWah…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 8

Trump Wants to Kill a Chemical Safety Board. "not investigating chemical disasters would be akin to failing to investigate airplane accidents and losing the opportunity to learn from them." Via @HirokoTabuchi @nytimes nytimes.com/2025/07/08/cli…

garyruskin's tweet card. The White House is planning to eliminate the board, a small agency that investigates chemical disasters to understand what went wrong.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 8

USAID Quietly Sent Thousands Of Viruses To Chinese Military-Linked Biolab Via @emilyakopp @DailyCaller with documents from @USRightToKnow dailycaller.com/2025/07/08/exc…

garyruskin's tweet card. The U.S. Agency for International Development shipped viral samples to a lab in Wuhan over the course of a 10-year program without a formal agreement in place.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jul 7

We have now filed #FOIA lawsuits against the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for their most recent assessments or intelligence reports about the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. usrtk.org/wp-content/upl……

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jun 30

Hiring swamp creatures is not the way to make America healthy again: "EPA announced that a farm industry lobbyist will take over as the agency's top pesticides officer, deepening the number of appointees at the agency poached from industry groups." subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews…

garyruskin's tweet card. Kyle Kunkler departs from the American Soybean Association to take the helm of the agency's program regulating farm chemicals.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jun 25

"Even low levels of nitrate—a common agricultural runoff and drinking water contaminant—are associated with increased risks of preterm birth and low birthweight babies..." medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-n… Study, via @PLOSWater journals.plos.org/water/article?…

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jun 23

Unhealthy food makers target youth with pervasive ads that fuel long-term health risks, decades of research shows. Via @USRightToKnow usrtk.org/healthwire/unh…

garyruskin's tweet card. The more unhealthy food ads young people see, the more of those products they consume—and the higher the risk of disease, a new study shows.

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Gary Ruskin@garyruskin · Jun 13

North Carolina Gov Ops requests records about UNC-Chapel Hill coronavirus researcher Baric “The sooner all information is made public, the quicker important questions will be answered." Via @CarolinaJournal @TheresaOpekaCJ carolinajournal.com/gov-ops-reques…

garyruskin's tweet card. As North Carolina House chairman of the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, has requested records from UNC-Chapel Hill regarding Dr. Ralph...

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