Drinking water in the U.S. is generally safe from acute contamination, but it may still contain microplastics, pharmaceutical residues, and trace environmental substances. Over time, repeated exposure to these substances may contribute to overall toxic load in the body.
Watch the Interview
This interview originally aired on Dove TV & Radio on April 6, 2026.
Key Takeaways
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U.S. drinking water is considered safe, but not completely free of unwanted substances
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Microplastics, pharmaceutical residues, and environmental chemicals can be present at low levels
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Long-term exposure to microplastics can accumulate in the body
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Water treatment systems cannot fully remove all substances present in water
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Reverse osmosis and filtration can reduce exposure
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Sulforaphane supports detox pathways and helps remove toxins
Frequently Asked Questions About Microplastics in Drinking Water
Is Drinking Water in the U.S. Safe?
U.S. drinking water is typically safe from bacteria and viruses, but it can still contain low levels of microplastics, chemicals, and pharmaceutical residues that may build up over time.
However, that does not mean it is completely free of other substances.
Even treated water may still contain small amounts of:
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Microplastics
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Pharmaceutical residues
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Agricultural chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides
What Contaminants Are Found in Drinking Water?
Drinking water can contain fluoride, pharmaceutical residues, pesticides, herbicides, and microplastics.
These substances enter through wastewater, agriculture, and environmental exposure, and are difficult to completely remove.
Modern water systems are effective at removing harmful pathogens, but they are not designed to eliminate everything.
According to the interview, water may still contain:
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Microplastics from environmental exposure
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Trace pharmaceutical compounds from wastewater recycling
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Agricultural runoff, including pesticides and herbicides
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Chemical additives such as fluoride
How Do Microplastics Get Into Drinking Water?
Microplastics and other substances can enter water systems through several pathways:
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Wastewater from human use (including pharmaceutical residues)
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Agricultural runoff from treated fields
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Environmental exposure through rainfall and air particles
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Food and packaging systems that introduce plastics into the ecosystem
Because these sources are widespread, it is difficult to eliminate them entirely from municipal water systems.
Can Water Treatment Plants Remove Microplastics?
No, water treatment plants cannot fully remove microplastics or trace chemicals. While they make water safe from pathogens, microscopic particles and dissolved substances often remain.
As a result:
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Microplastics and trace compounds can remain
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Long-term exposure may occur at low levels
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Additional filtration at the household level is often recommended
What Can People Do to Reduce Exposure to Microplastics in Drinking Water?
There are several practical steps individuals can take to reduce exposure:
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Use a reverse osmosis filtration system, which is one of the most effective methods for reducing particles and dissolved substances in water
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Avoid drinking from plastic water bottles, which can introduce additional microplastics
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Limit heating food or liquids in plastic containers
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Improve indoor air quality with air filtration, since a significant portion of exposure comes from the air
While municipal water is considered safe, these steps can help reduce long-term exposure from multiple sources.
How Does Sulforaphane Support Microplastics Detoxification?
Sulforaphane supports the body’s detoxification pathways, activates antioxidant defenses, and may help process and eliminate certain toxins, including microplastics, by enhancing lysosome‑driven cellular cleanup.
Research shows that sulforaphane, a compound derived from broccoli, helps activate the body’s natural defense and detoxification systems.
A 2020 study published in Scientific Reports found that sulforaphane activates key cellular defense pathways involved in antioxidant activity and inflammation regulation. [1]
Another 2020 study published in Microorganisms found that sulforaphane can influence the gut microbiome and metabolic pathways, which play an important role in overall metabolic and inflammatory health. [2]
Based on these mechanisms, some formulations are designed to support multiple aspects of this process.
For example, the Microplastics Detox Bundle combines stabilized sulforaphane (BrocElite® Plus) with resveratrol (ResverElite™) to support a two-step, cell-level approach:
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Sulforaphane supports cellular defense pathways and lysosomal activity
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Resveratrol supports autophagy, mitochondrial function, and antioxidant capacity
Together, this approach is designed to support how the body naturally processes and responds to ongoing environmental exposures.
Full Interview Transcript from Dove TV & Radio
[Host] You know, there's a topic that's kind of popping up lately with all the other fears that are out there, this is certainly a genuine concern, and that is the quality of our drinking water. I'm talking to David Roberts today. He's the founder of Mara Labs. is a public health expert with more than 20 years of expertise across three continents. His personal health journey led him to develop BrocElite, which is a supplement designed to help support detoxification and cellular resilience, and some of our drinking water. Mara-Labs.com is the website. David, good to see you. How are you?
[David Roberts] Hey, Perry. I'm doing great on this Easter Monday. How are you?
[Host] Hi, good to see you. 30,000 foot view...how safe is our drinking water in the United States?
[David Roberts] In comparison to the rest of the world, it's extremely safe. But if you look at the water itself, even in my city water, you know, there are about 200 parts per million of just particulates floating around there. There's pharmaceuticals, there's microplastics, and over the course of a lifetime, that can add up. So it's it so it's safe, but it could be safer. I would much rather drink from a well.
[Host] So, how does that work? I mean, does each city have its own plant, treatment plant, right? I mean, and it's being regulated, right?
[David Roberts] Again, the drinking water, by and large, is you're not going to get sick from drinking the water, as far as getting a parasite, like you would if you drink water from Africa, or you know, a virus, and so it's safe in that way. But it has fluoride, which is a neurotoxin. It has pharmaceuticals, which you don't necessarily want to be taking involuntarily. It has pesticides. It has herbicides. And so it's impossible to get that out completely. It can't happen. And so over the course of days, months, years those exposures can add up.
[Host] So tell us about your journey to work on this.
[David Roberts] I went to Johns Hopkins, I studied environmental public health, and was struck, you know, right after public health school – there was a study that came out of France about a flame retardant in women's breast milk and that just came from basically flame retardant being on furniture and so you know absorbing through our skin and so that was sort of an eye opening. Later my wife Mara got breast cancer and so we really did a big push to decrease toxins in our household so she could heal and that was eye opening as well like toxins all over the place but part of that was drinking water part of it was air a lot of pollution comes from indoor air so we got a we got a hepailter. We got a reverse osmosis filter and that's also how over the course of years that we ended up growing cells in our lab and cancer cells and putting a bunch of different supplements and pharmaceuticals on them to see what killed her type of cancer.
And broccoli, the good molecule from broccoli called sulforaphane, was number three in directly killing her type of cancer. And that's how the company Mara Labs was formed. She passed away in 2017, and we formed the company shortly after that.
[Host] I'm sorry to hear that. So a couple more questions and that is how did these things get in there? How do these things get into the water?
[David Roberts] You know that that's a great question, Perry. So, basically with pharmaceuticals – we are ingesting pharmaceuticals, right? And then we have there's waste that comes out from us goes down the toilets that water gets recycled into these waste treatment plants. Also, we eat in our food system, animals that have hormones that have antibiotics. It's how some of those get in there as well. But there's also runoff. So from fields that are sprayed with things like glyphosate or or pesticides. And so those can also lead to getting in the water system. And then from more rainwater, too. I mean, there are examples of desert, you know, portions of the desert in Utah having layers of microplastic layers of toxins on them and that's just from, you know, from precipitation and so it all adds up.
[Host] Does the EPA get involved in this or will they or have they?
[David Roberts] I mean certainly the EPA has to be involved in the drinking water conversation. You know it depends on the administration, but by and large things like pharmaceuticals and that come you know through waste it's not something that the EPA tends to regulate. You know it's again the municipalities by and large are doing a decent job but you know it's just a tall order right and it's a big deal to provide water for the entire population. But there are things that we can do as individuals, as families, to clean that water further. And things like reverse osmosis filters are important and that we have one in our house. We have them at work. I tell people it's important for you for you to actually further clean your water and so there are ways to to actually take ownership of that yourself.
[Host] So when you developed Mara Labs and you went after this and you developed what is a supplement you add the water to, how does that work?
[David Roberts] It is a supplement. Once we figured out that that, the good molecule from broccoli was number three in killing my wife's cancer, I went out to try to buy it, but I couldn't find it because it didn't exist. That molecule is not stable. And so, if you try to harness it and put it in a capsule, it degrades quickly. But if you have a head of broccoli and you start chewing it, there is a molecule that comes before sulforaphane called glucaraphin, which basically is stable. When you start chewing the broccoli, you release an enzyme that converts the glucaraphin into sulforaphane. You swallow it, you get the benefit. If you try to harness it, it degrades. And so what we did was basically we ended up stabilizing it. And so we are one of two companies that have a stable form of the molecule. All the rest of the broccoli supplements on the market are the precursor form. But basically, that's important because two of our capsules are the equivalent of 5 lbs of mature broccoli. And so it's a concentrate and it you know was discovered at the John's Hopkins University in 1992 and had over 2,000 research papers on it. 35 pro health mechanisms, but like you, mentioned at the beginning of the broadcast, detoxification, so it can get metals out and get a lot of toxins out of your body and then it's great for brain health. So it preserves neurons and helps create existing neurons and new neurons rather. And then it also is great at inflammation. So that's one of the things we hear most is people with aches and pains try it. It's known to reduce pro-inflammatory markers 30% in 24 hours.
[Host] How is it applied?
[David Roberts] To our conversation about water, I mean, a lot of what's going on with is we're ingesting toxins, right? And so, the detox portion of it is important, but also with microplastics. Last summer a researcher out of the Midwest took our form of sulforophane and showed that it actually mobilizes microplastics for excretion. So microplastics they're microscopic sized pieces of plastic that we ingest through what we eat, what we drink. It actually gets absorbed through your skin and actually most of it over 50% comes through the air we breathe. And so, you know, really trying to mitigate that.
There's a whole Netflix documentary that came out two weeks ago talking about how do you decrease the amount of microplastics in your environment. It's really good recommended, but basically, you know, not eating microwave things microwaved in plastic like food. Not drinking out of plastic water bottles. They're really small things you're getting a hepafilter in the room you sleep in. The really small things you can do that make a big impact, but that doesn't get rid of the microplastics inside you. So once you once they're inside of you, they get cordoned off with these sacks called lysosomes which are the digestive centers of the cell. And so basically you but our bodies weren't designed to digest microplastics. So they just get stuck there. It's like a sink that gets filled up and overflows. So what this researcher showed was that sulforaphane, our from broccoli, actually dissolves those lysosomes, releases the microplastics so that they can then get taken up and excreted. And so it was really exciting to hear about that. You know, RFK Jr. a couple days ago came out with a push against microplastics announcement, you know, and so I feel like it's that it's important it's an important subject. It's an important topic that's getting some traction. It's important because the microplastics are actually porous and can get lots of toxins that get absorbed into them.
And so if they get stuck under your body, Perry, they just start secreting these toxins like BPA, which is an estrogen mimicking compound that can mess up our hor hormones. It's probably why girls are going into puberty earlier. It's why boys are going to puberty later. It's cause a lot of the infertility that we're hearing about. So yeah, it's an important.
[Host] All right. I was going to ask you if RFK likes what you're doing.
[David Roberts] Well, I'm not sure if he would if he knew me…he'd love me actually. But we have not yet met. But yeah, I mean we actually know a lot of the people in the Maha movement. It’s the topics that are important. The whole idea of decreasing the amount of toxic burden and that we're getting exposed to through clean food, through clean water. That's a lot of what MAHA is about.
[Host] All right. So you can go to Mara-Labs.com. There's a picture of the landing page and learn more about this. Take advantage.
[David Roberts] Yeah, we actually have a special going on right now. We have an unconditional 100-day money-back guarantee. If you just want to try it, go to marlott-labs.com/plastic and we actually have a microplastic detox bundle we're offering with a resveratrol product as well that really gets the microplastics, helps get the microplastics out.
[Host] All right, Thanks, David. Good to see you.
[David Roberts] Thank you so much, Perry. Good to see you.
Sources
[1] Zhang, Y. et al. Sulforaphane Modulates Inflammatory Response and Oxidative Stress via Nrf2 Pathway. Scientific Reports, 2020.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7118069/pdf/41598_2020_Article_62714.pd
[2] Egner, P. A. et al. Multi-Omic Analysis Reveals Effects of Sulforaphane on the Microbiome and Metabolome. Microorganisms, 2020.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33003447/
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