Do you think that skin cancer is more common nowadays because we are cleaner?

Because we have less oil and grime covering our skin because we are cleaner is this the reason for more melanoma's or is it because of higher temperatures and recklessness?

Probably more to do with the fact we are told to cover up, slap on the chemicals, stay out of the sun when in fact good old Vitamin D (which we get from the sun) is what most of us are lacking in. Following is an excerpt from a newsletter I received recently - very interesting!
"Vitamin D Is FREE from the Sun -
And What It Does Is Nothing Short of Amazing鈥?
Your body is intricately designed to interact with the sun. You simply can't function properly without it. Yet, we are constantly bombarded with so-called 'scientific' information to the contrary.
The message from dermatologists, the medical profession and health authorities is nearly unanimous: Stay out of the sun! You have been told to keep indoors during peak sun hours and cover yourself with sunscreen when you do go outside. All in the name of health.
But it may surprise you to learn that any evidence that exposing yourself to the sun is harmful evaporates under scrutiny.
And if you follow this "no safe level of sun exposure" dogma, you could be putting yourself at greater risk of numerous deadly cancers, depression, bone loss, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune illness and a host of other ailments.
In fact, even your risk of the deadly skin cancer melanoma could go up if you avoid spending time in the sun."

i think your right.it does have a lot to do with these oils /dirt.plus all these cleaners chemicals we use to wash with.

no, with grunge out last decade or so we still had high skin cancer..

it's more the diminishing ozone layer, giving us less protection from skin's harmful rays

the glamorization of a beautiful golden tan

global warming

i don't think so much recklessness, i mean, we are more educated on the sun's hamful effects,

o wait, there is one thing. we are fooled into thinking that a higher spf offers more protection, when it has been in the news several times by dermatologists, that we cannot get any more protection from spf 15, than 30, 40 or 50. spf 15 is the maximum.

so i think in that regard, we are slathering on 50, and thinking we are protected.

dawn the floppy hats, long sleeve shirts, long pants, or long walking shorts, light socks, light colored clothing, and indoors during the peak hours.

We r cleaner but our environment is dirtier.

People live longer now as they do not die of Black Plague, Yellow Fever, etc, as much as they once did...so now they get Cancer. Also, holes in the ozone let in more harmful radiation so we get more skin cancer if we are outside much. Temperatures, and cleanliness, have little to do with it.

Seriously people - the amount of misinformation out there is appalling.

Skin cancer is completely related to UV exposure (from the sun or TANNING BOOTHS). Yes, it is true that with a decreasing ozone we are exposed to more harmful rays but it is also true that if you stay out of the sun you have a lower risk. The problem is that most people have at least 1 serious burn in their lifetime (most when children) and that alone puts you at heightened risk. Plus, the trend for tanning increases risk -- all tanning does is lightly burn your skin.

SP 15 is not the best you can do -- SPF 30-45 does have improved protection. The problem is that people put it on once and then that's it. You need to reapply every couple hours and after you swim.

If you want to know how much exposure you have had, look at your skin under a black light -- you can see a lot of the damage. Also, if you have a lot of moles or freckles, you have had significant skin exposure -- while not cancerous, they are skin changes and will get worse with age. I have spent my life out of the sun (I don't tan, I wear sunscreen daily, I wear a hat and protective clothing) because I have very sensitive skin -- I have very few moles and freckles - -the only places I have any are on my shoulders (higher sun exposure).

And no, skin cancer has NOTHING to do with cleanliness. UV rays go right through dirt. The reason people have had less skin cancer in the past is because A - they died earlier from other things and B - they wore lots of clothes and were pretty much untouched by the sun.

No...we live longer nowadays (melanomas are more often in over 50s), also diagnostics have come so far as to recognise it. People often died of cancer that originated from skin but showed up secondary in other places....and that place was diagnosed as the primary instead.

People used to cover up and wear hats...especially fair skinned people as it wasnt the fashion to be tanned. Black people have a naturally dense melanin structure which is why they dont get often get skin cancer.

Skin Types - It is interesting to note that human beings almost certainly all started off with black skins, but as they migrated to areas with low sunlight, they evolved to have fairer skins because this gave them the advantage of being able to make vitamin D under conditions of lower sunlight exposure. Vitamin D is activated in the skin under the influence of sunlight and is essential for bone health.

Such changes in skin colour take place over millions of years, and the descendants of the Caucasian people who migrated to Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries obviously still have the fair skin of their ancestors which means that they generally tan poorly, and burn easily. (see link below)

no. skin cancer is a result of too much sun exposure, ie, skin burns.
the use of sunscreens also increases the risk in several ways.
sunscreen prevents vitamin d absorbsion as well as the chemicals to make the sunscreen.

we have more cases of skin cancer than that of the days where no sunscreen was used.

other viruses may play a role as well as the environment.