North Carolina State University continues to investigate the unofficial link between a recently closed campus building to the cancer cases of more than 150 alumni, FOX News reports.
Local Raleigh news outlet WRAL initially raised concerns about the cancer cases in November 2023, one month after PCB levels were reported to be at more than 38 times the Environmental Protection Agency's standards for building materials inside five rooms at Poe Hall, which was officially closed shortly after WRAL's report.
“I was finishing up my finals, and I was going in for a physical at the health center. … I was having night sweats for weeks and weeks before this, and I could not figure out what was happening,” said NC State alumna Christie Lewis, who eventually took classes at Poe Hall after switching her major to education while attending NC State from 2007 to 2012, via FOX News Digital. “I was having to get up in the middle of night and change clothes completely. And then I would fall asleep. And I had to put a towel down. It honestly took me weeks to even tell my husband about them because I kept on forgetting about it because it was just in the middle of the night.”
Lewis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while still in college and discovered a lump on her neck months later, which was diagnosed as angiosarcoma. Poe Hall, which was constructed in 1971 when PCBs in materials were still common prior to being prohibited by the next decade, was attended by 152 alumni who were later diagnosed with cancer, though the cases have not officially been linked to the building, nor officially categorized as a "cluster," according to FOX News.
NC State is continuing to investigate the situation and has launched a webpage with updates since closing down Poe Hall last November.
“The university remains committed to doing the right things to ensure this is a safe place to work, learn and live,” Chancellor Randy Woodson said in a statement shared on the page.
NC State said it anticipates "the building will remain closed through at least the end of 2024, and we are committed to keeping our community updated on our progress and the latest testing results throughout this process," on the webpage.