Victoria’s solarium industry is on the brink of collapse, with increased skin cancer fears and a crackdown on rogue operators sparking a 45 per cent drop in the number of tanning salons. [...] ¶ Owners say customers started abandoning tanning salons following the public cancer battle of 26-year-old Clare Oliver, who died in September 2007 from melanoma she and her oncology team linked to solarium use. [...] ¶ The industry is in such a state of crisis that its peak body, the Australian Tanning Association, has disbanded after being forced to retract claims that solariums were safe following legal action brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
45 per cent down, 55 per cent to go.