North Carolina State University in Raleigh has found that one of the campus buildings the school officially closed last November was found to contain worrisome levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a potential carcinogen. We are continuing to survey students and graduates regarding their ingestion of PCBs.
More than 150 cancer cases among people who attended classes at Poe Hall were reported to local news outlet WRAL, which found PCB levels more than 38 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It began investigating concerns about the building a month later, around November 2023. ) Standards of building materials were detected in his five rooms in the building.
Christy Lewis, a North Carolina State University graduate, said, “After finishing my finals, I was scheduled to go to the health center for a physical exam…I had been having night sweats for weeks before that, but I couldn’t figure out what was going on.” There wasn’t,” he said. he told FOX News Digital. “I had to wake up in the middle of the night, completely undress, and then fall asleep. And then I had to put a towel down. Honestly, I didn’t even tell my husband about it for weeks. It took me a while because I kept forgetting.”It was midnight. ”
Lewis attended North Carolina State University from 2007 to 2012. She began her studies at the School of Business and eventually ended up in the College of Education, which houses North Carolina State University’s College of Education and Psychology. She “took classes for about four years” at Hall. ,” she said.
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Since last fall, more than 150 cancer cases linked to people who studied or worked at Poe Hall on the North Carolina State University campus have been reported to local news station WRAL. (Google Maps)
Around 2011 or 2021, while in college, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. A few months later, after discovering a lump on her neck, she was diagnosed with angiosarcoma.
“So, as I was finishing my final exams and writing my paper, I ended up seeing an endocrinologist who had to do a biopsy on my neck. That was traumatic,” she said. Ta. “They’re not sedatives or anything. They’re just like putting a giant needle down your throat and sticking it all over the place.”
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Christy Lewis (left) was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and angiosarcoma while attending school from 2011 to 2012. (Christy Lewis)
Lewis recalls that when he was diagnosed, the first thing he thought was, “People get cancer.” But she became even more skeptical when she heard that the number of North Carolina State University graduates diagnosed with cancer is three times the average number of cancer patients in Wake County, as WRAL first reported. .
“I couldn’t have made this connection on my own because I didn’t know anyone else. In college, I was the only one in my small group of classmates who had cancer,” she said. Ta. “Then I thought there was something wrong with my body. I thought something was wrong. I have four siblings and they are all very healthy except for me. ”
A few months after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Christy Lewis discovered a lump on her neck and was diagnosed with angiosarcoma. (Christy Lewis)
When she started reading reports about the potential link between po holes and cancer cases, she thought to herself: “Maybe my body isn’t the problem. Maybe I was exposed to something that actually caused this. I don’t know, but it definitely made me I was shocked.” Somewhat. “
“Maybe there’s nothing wrong with my body.”
Poe Hall was built in 1971, at a time when the use of PCBs in construction materials was common, but their use was phased out by the next decade.
PCBs were commonly used in construction materials in the 1970s. (Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg)
A total of 152 cancer cases among people who attended classes at Poe Hall reported to WRAL are not officially linked to the building, and the authors believe these cases are “more than expected.” It cannot be officially classified as a “cluster,” which means “occurrence of cancer.” According to the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the number of cancer cases in a group of people during a specific time period within a specific geographic area.
Jennifer Walter, another NC State graduate, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and synovial sarcoma a few years after attending the university from 2004 to 2007. She attended classes at Poe Hall as a psychology major.
Walter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2017 after years of researching what was wrong with him. Her synovial sarcoma diagnosis was later made in 2022.
Jennifer Walter was also diagnosed with thyroid cancer and synovial sarcoma a few years after enrolling at North Carolina State University from 2004 to 2007. (Jennifer Walter)
“The biggest symptom was fatigue,” Walter told Fox News Digital. “They tested me for migraines and things like that. … I was weak. I could work, but I couldn’t do anything else. And I had severe joint pain. “I was tested for arthritis.” “Of course they found nothing. But again, I just felt weak. I couldn’t do anything. I could barely work. That’s it. So I just went, “Go home and sleep.” ”
When asked how the diagnosis affected her life, Walter said, “We were engaged, and now we’re not engaged.”
Thyroid cancer was “no big deal” to Walter, but sarcoma changed her life, she said.
Thyroid cancer was “no big deal” to Walter, but sarcoma changed her life, she said. (Jennifer Walter)
“I think I have medical trauma, or medical PTSD. I think that’s what it’s called. I get incredibly anxious before and after tests because I don’t know what’s going to happen again.” she said. “There are these scary statistics tied to sarcoma. It’s all the more real. … They caught it early, so I’m grateful, but that fear will never go away. It’s something I feel every day. It’s what I’ve been carrying with me for the rest of my life. “
“It’s something I will continue to do every day for the rest of my life.”
Since Poe Hall’s closure, North Carolina State University has created a webpage to keep users updated on the investigation into Poe Hall’s contaminants and how the school continues to analyze test results. When asked if the university would like to share a statement regarding the ongoing concerns, it referred them to the Fox News Digital webpage.
The page includes a statement from President Randy Woodson, which says, “The university remains committed to doing the right thing to ensure that it is a safe place to work, learn, and live.” has been written.
The webpage states that the school originally filed a complaint with the North Carolina Department of Labor, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (NC DOL), in which North Carolina officials filed a “complaint regarding suspected health and/or safety hazards associated with Poe Hall.” It is stated that the information was received. In August 2023.
Health officials began sampling inside the building in October.early stages of North Carolina Indoor Environmental Survey Report Shared sample test results are available on the North Carolina State University website.
Since Poe Hall’s closure, North Carolina State University has created a webpage to keep users updated on the investigation into Poe Hall’s contaminants and how the school continues to analyze test results. (Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg)
“Poe Hall was a seven-story academic building constructed around 1971, at a time when PCBs were widely used throughout the United States in building materials such as paints, caulks, and some mastics,” the report said. There is. “PCBs are a family of related man-made compounds that were manufactured for use in numerous industrial and commercial products before 1979, when they were banned in the United States.”
On March 25, Chancellor Woodson spoke in a webinar with Dr. Zach Moore, an epidemiologist with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), and Dr. Andy Olshan of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Moore explained in the webinar that “most” groups of cancer cases originating from a particular region “do not fit” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) definition of a “cancer cluster.”
”[CDC] The guidance defines cancer clusters as a higher than expected number of cases of the same cancer or related cancers in a specific region over a specific time period. Therefore, not all concerns that arise meet the definition of a cancer cluster. In fact, most are not,” Moore said in his March 25 webinar. “That’s not because the definition is impossibly strict, but because it’s difficult to actually get the data to understand whether clusters actually exist.”
On March 25, Chancellor Randy Woodson spoke in a webinar with Dr. Zach Moore, an epidemiologist with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), and Dr. Andy Olshan of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). . (North Carolina)
In a statement to FOX News Digital, NCDHHS said, “The State of North Carolina has notified staff of the concerns, closed Poe Hall, and taken steps to protect public health, including consulting with outside environmental experts to begin repairs to the building.” We have taken steps to protect it.”
“NCDHHS is in frequent contact with the State of North Carolina and understands the situation and situation there. [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] He will cooperate with the investigation at Poe Hall. “Investigating possible links between cancer cases and occupational exposures is difficult and is part of NIOSH’s professional work,” the agency said, adding that NCDHHS “is confident that North Carolina’s situation will ultimately “We do not have information on whether it would be considered to meet the CDC’s latest standards,” he added. Definition of “cluster”.
Ben Whitley, an attorney with the Whitley Law Firm in Raleigh, said his firm is considering a lawsuit against Monsanto, which manufactured the PCB-containing materials used in the construction of Poe Hall. He noted that Vermont recently passed a law requiring PCB testing of school buildings renovated before 1980.
“Unfortunately, I think we’re going to start seeing more and more PCBs in these buildings that were built during that period, from 1971 to 1979. That’s when PCBs came into the picture. PCBs were used for caulking and insulation. And it was like this amazing ‘material,”’ Whitley explained to Fox News Digital.
“I think you’re going to see that more and more in these buildings that were built during this period from 1971 to 1979.”
Whitley added that additional issues regarding PCB contamination could arise as North Carolina State inspects more buildings on campus.
Lewis said she felt “violated” because she believed she was “getting a good education in a safe place” but was “suddenly” “put in a dangerous situation”. Ta. She also worries that “permanent chemicals” could “transfer in the womb” and thereby affect children.
“I was really nervous,” she said.
Walter similarly said the Poe Hall investigation raised questions about “what else has she and her family been exposed to or are being exposed to” in their everyday environment?
“We feel like there should be more answers. If there are more answers…everyone should actively seek them out,” she said.
