Cancer on campus: Over 150 students and staff at North Carolina university ‘are diagnosed with host of tumors and disease’ – as officials find lecture halls and classrooms teeming with toxic chemicals
More than 150 students, staff and alumni have reportedly been diagnosed with cancers and other diseases linked to a university building teeming with toxins.
Cases of lymphoma and thyroid and breast cancers have been reported among patients who spent time at Poe Hall, a class building at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
The building closed in November 2023 amid reports of exposure to concerning levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), toxic chemicals linked to cancer.
An investigation the month before found that PCB levels in five rooms were more than 38 times the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) building limit.
The university now faces lawsuits from some of the 152 patients who report falling sick with diseases linked to the toxins.
These include Sarah Glad, a 35-year-old mother-of-one who dreamed of using her degrees from NC State to run for office.
However, her dreams were cut short when she died from stage four breast cancer, which her family claims is linked to attending classes in Poe Hall.
Mrs Glad attended NC State from 2007 to 2013, earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree. Her husband, Robbie Glad, told local news station WRAL that his wife spent much of her master’s program in Poe Hall.
Years later, within months of each other, Mrs Glad and a former classmate were both diagnosed with breast cancer. Mrs Glad was just 33 years old.
She was able to fulfill one dream and become a mother in August 2022, even as cancer ravaged her body.
However, in January 2024, at age 35, she died from the disease.