Sir – I would like to address a couple of points in the article in your paper about my response to recent air pollution statistics (Councillor’s widow links his death to air pollution in Oxford, April 24), as I feel what I said was misrepresented.
The article gives a mixed, confused-sounding message about the possible link between my husband Mike Woodin’s death from lung cancer and air pollution in Oxford, when my view is quite clear: it is possible his death was caused by air pollution, but impossible to prove.
It does, however, seem obvious to me that if micro-particles from coal, asbestos or tobacco can cause lung cancer, then those from motorised vehicle exhaust can too.
If one wanted to try to investigate a possible link between air pollution in Oxford city centre and lung cancer, it would be an interesting piece of research, and not difficult to find out the incidence of lung cancer among former Oxford University students, for example. Furthermore, I do not have asthma, nor ever have had. Six months after I came to live here, I found I had breathing difficulties. I went to see our GP at the time, who suggested I try a low-dose steroid inhaler, saying: “If it works, it’s asthma.”
I remember being so shocked at this method of diagnosis, I never used the prescription and my breathing got better on its own in time. While I very much appreciate the opportunity given to me to bring this issue to the public’s attention, it is disappointing that the article is not a more accurate reflection of what I said.
Deborah Glass Woodin, Oxford
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