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In epidemiology, environmental factors are those determinants of disease that are not transmitted genetically or by infection. Apart from the true monogenic genetic disorders, environmental diseases may determine the development of disease in those genetically predisposed to a particular condition. Stress, physical and mental abuse, diet, exposure to toxins, pathogens, radiation and chemicals found in almost all personal care products and household cleaners are possible causes of a large segment of non-hereditary disease. If a disease process is concluded to be the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factor influences, its etiological origin can be referred to as having a multifactorial pattern.

There are many different types of environmental disease including

• lifestyle disease such as cardiovascular disease, diseases caused by substance abuse such as alcoholism, and smoking-related disease
• disease caused by phyical factors in the environment, such as skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight
• disease caused by exposure to chemicals in the environment such as lead poisoning

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