Health experts, NC State chancellor address Poe Hall contamination
North Carolina State University leaders and health experts on Monday answered questions about the PCB contamination inside Poe Hall and the investigation into possible health effects.
Chancellor Randy Woodson and Provost Warwick Arden spoke during the virtual meeting along with Dr. Zach Moore, state epidemiologist with the state Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Andrew Olshan, a UNC epidemiologist.
WRAL's complete coverage of Poe Hall
N.C. State students, faculty and staff were allowed to join and watch the Zoom meeting but could not ask questions live during discussion. Instead, questions that were submitted ahead of time were read and answered by the panel.
A large portion of the conversation was focused on cancer clusters and how difficult they are to prove.
"[CDC] guidance defines a cancer cluster as a higher-than-expected number of cases of the same or related cancers in a particular area over a particular period of time. So, not every concern that comes up meets that definition of a cancer cluster. In fact, most don't," Moore explained. "That's not because it's some impossibly strict definition, that's because of challenges with actually having the data to understand whether a cluster is really present."
Moore said a National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) paper published last year looked at 174 Health Hazard Evaluations of cancer concerns in occupational settings. Of those, 96% did not meet CDC criteria for a cancer cluster. Of those that did, none of them linked an occupational hazard to the cancer cluster.
"I know that sounds very negative and I think it's important context to share, but I want to emphasize again; that doesn’t mean that the investigations aren't important and don't need to be conducted according to the best practices. There's still a lot of value in those investigations," Moore said.
NIOSH is currently conducting a Health Hazard Evaluation of Poe Hall.
WRAL's 5 On Your Side has received 152 reports of cancer cases in people with connections to Poe Hall. At this point, those cancer cases have not been directly linked to PCBs in Poe Hall and no agency has declared a cancer cluster related to the building.
Other topics covered during the webinar included how the university handles PCB testing.
"If our teams are undertaking a renovation or a maintenance project that may involve building materials that we suspect could have PCBs, then they may choose to test as appropriate. Previous record requests actually show that we followed this process for a number of years and will continue to do so," Woodson said.
Records requests filed by 5 On Your Side show PCB testing was done on the outside of Poe Hall in 2018 ahead of a proposed renovation project. The tests showed high concentrations of PCBs in caulk surrounding a window and an exterior panel.
However, there have been multiple renovation projects inside Poe Hall since 2018 and no PCB testing was done before, during or after any of the projects.
5 On Your Side did reach out to the university highlighting that.
A spokesperson provided the following statement: "As the Chancellor said, if we suspect building materials could contain PCBs as part of renovation projects, our teams will test as appropriate - this is really to ensure safe removal and disposal of materials and is in line with what EPA requires. Not every renovation project will involve materials that fall into this category."
Woodson said the university is working on new protocols for PCB testing based on EPA guidelines released in February 2024.
During an exclusive interview last week, the chancellor said he expects the latest test results on Poe Hall to come in late April, and that's when he expects more concrete answers about the environment in the building.
Today, Woodson said because they don't have concrete answers yet, they are not offering to cover any kind of testing for PCBs in people who spent time in Poe Hall.
"At this time, the university is not offering health testing or reimbursement for health testing related to Poe Hall because were still in the evaluation phase of the buildings environment and we're trying to understand the environment within the building and it's important to remember that," Woodson said during the virtual Q&A.
"Until we know more, each individual must make decisions about their own health in partnership with their own medical providers," Woodson continued.
The meeting ended with Provost Arden saying the full webinar will be posted on the Poe Hall Updates website later this week.
