Poe Hall employees had higher rates of some cancers, federal report claims

A division of the CDC found elevated rates of cancer at NC State’s Poe Hall but stated a specially designed epidemiologic study would be needed to determine why.

The report, released on Monday, comes more than two years after NC State closed the building amid staff complaints and testing that revealed PCB contamination inside.

The report is a long time coming, and was first initiated in November 2023, the same month the university closed the building.  

In the months following, documents given exclusively to WRAL showed the university asked to halt the study. The university asked to restart the study following outcry from staff.  

Findings of report: PCBs, elevated cancer rates 

Investigators found the rate of melanoma among employees who worked at Poe Hall between 1995 and 2022 was approximately “twice” what would be expected based on the state’s general population. Investigators also found a “statistically significant excess of breast cancer” among female Poe Hall employees from 1995 to 2009.

Conversely, the number of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cases between 1995 and 2022 was similar to or “less than expected,” according to the report.

The authors of the report wrote that they chose to focus on melanoma, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma because there is already “sufficient evidence” that PCB exposure is associated with those types of cancer.

PCBs were commonly used in the construction of buildings during the mid-20th century but were subsequently banned and deemed a “known carcinogen.”

According to the report, PCBs were found in air, dust, and bulk materials such as insulation sealants, lined duct insulation facing, and window caulk. While all of the air samples and all but two of the dust samples did not exceed EPA thresholds or exposure levels, most of the bulk material samples showed PCB levels that surpassed what the government allows.

Notably, many of the samples inside Poe Hall were taken after the building closed. Thus, the evaluation could not “assess whether each employee was exposed to PCBs during their work in the building” or “when and at what levels.”

Limitations of the evaluation, recommendation for further study

Despite evidence of contamination and a heightened rate of some types of cancer, the NIOSH report noted it “could not draw conclusions about the causes of cancers among employees based on the information it analyzed,” mainly because a “specially designed epidemiologic study” is needed.

>>Inside Poe Hall: The building & the building up to the closure

The report suggested that NC State consider forming a committee of university leaders, building occupants, and outside public health experts to determine whether a full epidemiologic study should be conducted. The group would review available records on exposures and health outcomes to decide whether a formal study could realistically determine potential health risks.

In a message to faculty and staff, NC State Chancellor Kevin Howell emphasized that the federal report did not establish a causal link between Poe Hall and cancer. He did not make mention of a future epidemiological study.

The NIOSH report did include students or staff living outside of the state at the time of their diagnosis.