# A raisin in the sun - A question about tanning

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [November 17, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569 "2005-11-17T23:08:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569/1 "2005-11-17T23:08:47Z")

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Are you more likely to get skin cancer down there :eek: than on your nose if you leave your “hose out on the lawn”?

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**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569/2 "2005-11-18T00:19:42Z")

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Welcome to the StraightDope message boards, **ouryL**. When you make a comment on a column it’s helpful if you provide a link to original column.

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_424.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_424.html)

😉

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**Author:** ![Good\_Egg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569/3 "2005-11-18T03:36:38Z")

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I don’t know about skin cancer, but its more likely to get burned as the skin is thinner. So I hear.

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**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-raisin-in-the-sun-a-question-about-tanning/331569/4 "2005-11-18T03:52:59Z")

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The majority of your risk of skin cancer comes from burns occuring before age 20. As you age, continued exposure to sun causes more sun damage, increasing your risk even more.

If you left your naughty bits in the sun as long as you did your nose, the chances of skin cancer would be the same. If you had lots of sunburns on your nose as a kid, but not of your privates, I would think the chance of skin cancer is higher for the nose.