# Do darker pigmented individuals sweat more in the sun?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-darker-pigmented-individuals-sweat-more-in-the-sun/756418>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 3, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-darker-pigmented-individuals-sweat-more-in-the-sun/756418 "2016-06-03T20:04:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mewmd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@mewmd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mewmd)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-darker-pigmented-individuals-sweat-more-in-the-sun/756418/1 "2016-06-03T20:04:02Z")

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Hi Cecil,

Most of us have learned, when returning from the beach in a bathing suit, that sitting in a car with dark upholstery will leave a lasting impression. Darker colors absorb more heat from sunlight than lighter colors. Which got me to thinking:  
All things being equal, when working or exercising in the sun, do people who have darker pigmented skin perspire or breath slightly more to maintain baseline 98.6f temperature?

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-darker-pigmented-individuals-sweat-more-in-the-sun/756418/2 "2016-06-03T20:45:20Z")

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> [@mewmd](#):
>
> Hi Cecil,
> 
> Most of us have learned, when returning from the beach in a bathing suit, that sitting in a car with dark upholstery will leave a lasting impression. Darker colors absorb more heat from sunlight than lighter colors. Which got me to thinking:  
> All things being equal, when working or exercising in the sun, do people who have darker pigmented skin perspire or breath slightly more to maintain baseline 98.6f temperature?

[Wiki sez no:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_skin)

> [@](#):
>
> Although darkly pigmented skin absorbs about 30 to 40% more sunlight than lightly pigmented skin, dark skin does not increase the body’s internal heat intake in conditions of intense solar radiation. Solar radiation heats up rather the body’s surface and not the interior. Furthermore, this amount of heat is negligible compared the heat produced when muscles are actively used during exercise. Regardless of skin colour, humans have excellent capabilities to dissipate heat through sweating. Half of the solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface is in the form of infrared light and is absorbed similarly regardless of skin coloration.