Poe Hall updates meeting canceled, NC State refuses to answer questions about future studies

New questions are emerging about transparency surrounding the chemical contamination at NC State’s Poe Hall after employees expected an in-person, question-and-answer session with federal health investigators. Instead, they received written responses.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH], which is a division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, canceled the mid-May meeting. The agency did not respond to WRAL Investigates’ questions about why the meeting was canceled.

NC State said it had no comment, stating the CDC, “Engaged directly with employees independent of administration as part of their process.”

Q&A: Tap here to view questions and answers from federal investigators about the closure of NC State's Poe Hall

Contamination and elevated cancer rates documented, but causation still unanswered

NC State closed Poe Hall in November 2023 after testing found PCB chemicals inside the building. PCBs are classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization. The university has since acknowledged the contamination inside Poe Hall was so extensive the building will need to be demolished and replaced.

Additionally, a federal investigation by NIOSH found elevated rates of melanoma and statistically significant excess breast cancer among some employees who worked in Poe Hall. More than 200 former students and workers have told WRAL 5 On Your Side they developed cancer after spending time in the building. Some have filed lawsuits against Monsanto, the chemical manufacturer, as well as NC State. NC State has also filed its own lawsuit against Monsanto.

While both the contamination and elevated cancer rates have been documented, the connection between the two remains unanswered: Did the contamination inside Poe Hall contribute to the cancers reported by former students and workers?

Throughout the written Q-and-A responses, NIOSH repeatedly pointed to a broader epidemiological study as the type of research needed to get closer to that answer. Investigators wrote, “A specially designed epidemiologic study could address questions about how cancer rates vary by duration of employment and estimated levels of exposure.”

NIOSH said a future study could examine issues its initial evaluation could not fully answer, including whether people who spent more time in Poe Hall had higher cancer rates, whether certain rooms or offices carried greater exposure risks, whether students and alumni should be included, and whether cases were missed among people who later moved out of North Carolina.

The potential value of an epidemiological study was first raised by NIOSH in March, when investigators stated a specially designed epidemiologic study could help answer unresolved questions about cancer rates and PCB exposure. At the time, NC State said it needed more time to determine whether it would support such a study. When asked again by WRAL Investigates two months later, the university did not directly answer the question.

WRAL Investigates also asked why the latest written responses from NIOSH are not posted on NC State’s Poe Hall updates webpage, which the university previously described as a “one-stop shop” for information about the building and investigation. NC State did not respond to that question either.