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To the Editor:

Re “An Oxygen Bar Offers a Respite From Toxic Air in India” (news article, Nov. 16):

Fifteen minutes of clear air is no solution at all to the awful problem of air pollution in India or anywhere else. The toxic particles and chemicals that are inhaled from the air in polluted cities won’t be washed out by a brief hit of pure oxygen, and understandably concerned and desperate citizens shouldn’t be misled into thinking otherwise.

Eighty percent of people living in urban areas breathe air that is worse than World Health Organization standards, and air pollution is the leading environmental threat to health around the globe.

Seven million people each year die from breathing polluted air. Citizens everywhere deserve transparency about air quality where they live.

Only concerted action to reduce emissions through the use of cleaner fuels, promulgation and enforcement of tighter regulations, and cooperation on a global level will solve this problem.

Neil Schluger
New York
The writer is chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.

Charities Shouldn’t Dictate

To the Editor:

Re “Philanthropists Bench the M.V.P.s,” by Vanessa Daniel (Op-Ed, Nov. 20):

The New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project details how slavery became an engine for what is described as “America’s low-road approach to capitalism.” It should come as no surprise that the painful history that built our economy also gave rise to philanthropy and the issues articulated by Ms. Daniel.

Foundations need to realize that the wealth they distribute is not theirs to operate or control. Instead, we need to determine how to return money to communities that were exploited in creating today’s economy.

In addition to funding more organizations led by people of color, philanthropy can do this by providing grantees more power to decide how resources are allocated within their organizations.

If foundations are serious about addressing inequities, they need to listen to communities and co-create solutions rather than dictate them.

Gislaine Ngounou
Quincy, Mass.
The writer is vice president for strategy and programs at the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

Juul and the New Economy

To the Editor:

Re “How Juul Got a Generation Hooked” (front page, Nov. 24):

I was amazed to learn that Juul Labs is now worth more than the Ford Motor Company.

We once had a manufacturing economy, then a service economy and now, it seems, an addiction economy. The big winners are those who can get consumers hooked on their products (opiates, video games, e-cigarettes), never mind the personal and social costs.

For whom is this economy working, exactly?

Laurie Mazur
Takoma Park, Md.

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