Final answer:
In the second level of risk-based assessment, the potential for exposure includes physical factors, chemical factors, and biological factors. These encompass a wide range of environmental risks such as air pollution, natural resource degradation, and pathogen exposures, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive approach to assessing potential health threats.
Step-by-step explanation:
The second level of risk-based assessment, known as the potential for exposure, includes various migrating factors that may be categorized as physical factors, chemical factors, and biological factors. For example, exposures to vehicular and industrial air pollution are chemical factors that can increase the risk of health issues such as lung cancer and bladder cancer. Physical factors could include natural resource degradation, leading to mudslides and poor drainage, while biological factors might involve exposure to pathogens or encounters with toxic organisms like algae blooms. Routes of exposure to chemicals are also considered, which include ingestion, inhalation, and skin contact. Therefore, when evaluating the potential for exposure, all these factors must be considered to comprehensively assess environmental risks.
According to the information provided, population movement and encroachment on natural habitats can affect feeding and breeding grounds of vectors such as mosquitoes, which is a biological factor. Exposure to naturally occurring toxic substances and natural resource degradation are additional examples that highlight the multifaceted nature of environmental risk and emphasize why all physical, chemical, and biological factors need to be included in risk-based assessments.