People who work and studied in North Carolina State University's Poe Hall still have concerns, even after the release of a massive new report on cancer-causing chemicals in the building.
A second round of tests identified the source of toxic chemicals, called PCBs, in the building that forced it to close last semester.
Other WRAL Top Stories
The report released on Monday shows a gold insulation sealant found in the HVAC ducts is the primary source of the PCBs.
But a day after the report came out, many still have questions.
“I think my reaction is the opposite of what they aimed to do by releasing testing,” said Catie Roland, a former NC State graduate student who was diagnosed with Carcinoma last year. “I just have more questions now.”
Christie Lewis was an undergrad student. She was diagnosed at 21 and 22-years-old with Thyroid Cancer and Sarcoma respectively.
“I was so sick when I was in Poe Hall, like so sick,” Lewis said. “I’ve never been sick like that ever again.”
Lewis and Roland are two of at least 200 people who told 5 On Your Side they spent time in Poe Hall and were later diagnosed with cancer.
PCBs were commonly used in construction of buildings when Poe Hall was built. Their use was banned in the late 1970s, and they are now a known carcinogen.
The PCBs found in Poe Hall and cancer cases have not been linked, but people hoped this latest investigation would help shed more light on whether there was a connection.
Instead, Roland was left wanting more from the new report.
“Seventeen samples in the most recent testing just feels extremely low compared to what experts say is needed in the building,” she said.
Dr. Robert Herrick, a former Occupational Hygienist with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for 22 years and a Harvard University faculty member for 25 years, agrees.
“They really need a full-blown monitoring campaign to do a lot more air sampling in more locations and let the system continue to run and see what the actual sort of normal operating condition of the building is,” he said.
Dr. David Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University of Albany and an expert on environmental causes of human disease, also told WRAL News that more samples should have been taken.
"What they find is strikingly high, but it's a gross under estimation of the PCBs in the air," Carpenter said.
He also took issue with the fact that the tests were only designed to detect certain PCBs, although there are 209 different types of the toxin.
In addition to more air sampling, Herrick also slammed the report for not testing other potential PCB sources.
“I find it incomprehensible that they set out to characterize the possible sources of PCB in the building, but they didn't look at the caulking at all,” Herrick said.
Records obtained by WRAL5 On Your Side revealed testing on the exterior of Poe Hall in 2018 found high levels of PCBs in caulking on the outside of the building. Herrick said caulking should be investigated all over the building.
The latest report released June 3 says the 17 air samples taken showed PCB concentrations in the air of Poe Hall, albeit below the EPA recommended exposure levels for evaluating PCBs in school indoor air.
Herrick says while that’s encouraging, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a hazard there.
“EPA, in fact, themselves say these numbers are not brightlines between safe and unsafe conditions,” he explained.
The report was released with a letter from Chancellor Randy Woodson noting highlights from the report and stating that the university now has “a comprehensive understanding of the building environment.”
“I think that's an absolutely disingenuous thing to say, they are so far from really having a comprehensive understanding of the environment. What they have is a snapshot,” Herrick said. “I would be very, very surprised if EPA is on board with the idea that this work is a comprehensive understanding of the sources of PCBs in this building.”
“It just leaves me a little confused and a little frustrated feeling like they feel like this is the end of the road and now they’re going to mitigate and remove materials without ever having sufficient testing,” Catie Roland told us.
WRAL 5 On Your Side asked NC State for an interview, to help answer the concerns people raised. They declined and when we sent written questions to follow up, they referred us back to the report.
The report recommends keeping Poe Hall closed until PCBs can be removed and for NC State to develop plans and schedules to do that.
There is, however, the possibility of other independent testers getting into the building to take samples.
Darren Masier, another former Poe Hall graduate student diagnosed with cancer, has gone to court to get that additional testing done.
WRAL 5 On Your Side spoke with him today about the case, he says the case is in appellate court awaiting a decision about access to the building.
“I hate to talk bad about my school, but they don't want to let anyone else in,” Masier said. “They want to handle it. They want to do all of the investigatory work. They don't want any other experts to go in there, even if we're willing to give them every bit of the results we get.”
A ruling could come in the next couple of weeks.
“What's wrong with another set of eyes? It's not like we're going in there and trying to get them. I mean, we're gonna go in there with experts. And if there, if there are no major problems, great, then everybody's happy. And then we can put this behind us,” Masier said.