This story was originally published by the WND News Center.

Students and staff members at North Carolina State University by the dozens have been diagnosed with cancers including lymphoma, breast cancer, and thyroid cancer, and officials are blaming the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls, toxins linked to cancers, in a classroom building.

A report from the Daily Mail cites the estimated 150 cases involved people who were in or around the campus's Poe Hall, which was closed in late 2023 amid documentation of the presence of PCBs.

The report said some of the rooms in the building had levels that reached 38 times the limits established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Now in the works is a flood of lawsuits from families and victims, who included Sarah Glad, 35, who died from stage four breast center, and Christie Lewis, who attended the university from 2007 to 2012, to be diagnosed later with thyroid cancer.

The report explained Jennifer Walter, at the school from 2004 to 2007, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2017, followed by a type of cancer that attacks joints.

She explained, "They got it early, which I’m grateful for, but that fear never goes away. It’s something I’m going to have every day for the rest of my life."

The report noted Poe was built in 1972 when PCBs were used commonly in industrial products. They were banned in 1979 but remain in some buildings.

The building served students in education and psychology classes.

The school began investigating in 2023 when a worker filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the North Carolina Department of Labor and alleged health and/or safety hazards in the structure.

Tests then were done to sample the atmosphere in the building and dangerous PCB levels were uncovered, but the report said a subsequent investigation was canceled, a report that school officials denied.