NC State Chancellor responds to WRAL Investigation into cancer-causing chemicals inside more buildings

For the first time, the federal government has indicated it is investigating a potential cancer cluster among workers at North Carolina State University's Poe Hall.

It comes nearly a year after the university shut down the building due to high levels of PCB chemicals. According to the federal government, exposure to PCBs is linked to specific types of cancer.

However, when workers tried to report their cancer diagnoses, they were informed that neither the university nor the state health department was formally collecting health information.

"It was so frustrating," said Kate Norwalk, a former associate professor who spent seven years working in Poe Hall. By her fourth year there, she and three other women working on her floor had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"I always wondered if the building gave me cancer," Norwalk said.

Norwalk is one of 90 women who have told WRAL they developed cancer after working or studying in Poe Hall.

"We know people get cancer in large numbers, but we aren't talking about NC State as a whole -- we're talking about this one building," said Tremaine Brittian, a former Poe Hall worker and student who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015.

After Poe Hall was closed, the university paid a consulting firm over $490,000 to investigate the building's environment and determine the source of the PCBs, which were later found in the HVAC system. The university's chancellor stated that the investigation aimed to understand the health impacts on workers and students. However, as concerns grew, people dealing with health issues began reporting their illnesses, including cancer diagnoses, to WRAL Investigates.

WRAL Investigates started tracking cases, time spent in Poe Hall, and types of cancer. As of October, 215 people have reported developing cancer after spending time in Poe Hall. Our investigation recorded the type of cancer, the year of diagnosis, and the duration spent in Poe Hall, among other details.

WRAL Investigates compared local cancer rates and found that, in 2022, the rate of breast cancer among Poe Hall workers and grad students was three times higher than the county average.

This summer, we presented that information to the CDC.

On Oct. 4, NIOSH, a division of the CDC, sent a letter to the state health department requesting a comparison of Poe Hall workers with cancer cases in the state's registry to analyze whether their cancer rates are higher than the general population. The goal? To determine if a cancer cluster exists at Poe Hall.

This investigation builds on NIOSH's health hazard assessment of Poe Hall, initiated in February -- three months after the building was closed. It will follow the CDC's guidelines for examining unusual patterns of cancer and environmental concerns among workers but will not include students, who make up a large portion of the reported cases.

"That's not fair. They deserve an investigation," Norwalk said

The state health department confirmed it has received the letter and is cooperating with the investigation.