This article advocates for a revised riskassessment for bromate to reflect presystemicchemistry not usually considered when low-doserisks are calculated from high-dose toxicologydata. Because of high acidity and thepresence of reducing agents, presystemicdecomposition of bromate can begin in thestomach, which should contribute to lower-than-expected doses to target organs. In thisresearch, bromate decomposition kineticswith simulated stomach/gastric juice werestudied to determine the risk of environmentallyrelevant exposure to bromate.The current work is the first step in aseries of studies that the authors are conductingto better estimate the hypotheticallow-dose risks to humans from drinkingwater ingestion and thus arrive at moreappropriate maximum contaminant levels(MCLs). It is the authors' belief that additionalkinetics and metabolism research willdemonstrate that the human risk from ingestionof compounds in drinking water is lessthan originally believed and will lead toMCLs and MCL goals that are more scientificallybased.Includes 29 references, tables.