Final answer:
The statement is true; the skin does contribute to obligatory water loss, particularly through the process of sweating, which is necessary for thermoregulation and maintaining solute concentrations in the body's tissues.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that the skin is one of the areas of the body that contributes to obligatory water loss is true. The skin, part of the integumentary system, plays a significant role in the body's osmoregulatory processes. Along with the kidneys, which are the main osmoregulatory organs, the skin helps maintain homeostasis by controlling the loss of water and electrolytes.
When the body temperature rises, the skin's sweat glands produce sweat to cool the body down, a process that inevitably leads to water loss. Additionally, the skin's ability to retain water is largely due to the stratum corneum's lipid barrier, which prevents excessive water loss.
Despite this barrier, water loss through the skin, especially via sweating, is considered obligatory because it's an unavoidable part of thermoregulation and the maintenance of proper solute concentration in tissues.