An estimated 50,000 people came downtown to watch the demolition. Not all of them were enveloped in the dust, which still cakes windows and sidewalks around the rubble pile. Martin said a sample taken Tuesday near the People Mover contained 623 parts per million of lead and 2 to 4 percent asbestos. Asbestos levels in those samples have yet to be determined. Donald Hamel, environmental health services administrator for the Detroit Health Department, said lead paint chipping from the walls of some of the city's aging homes poses a greater danger to children than the Hudson's dust.
Children are most vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can lead to anemia and cause brain damage.
Gary Noonan, environmental health scientist at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said the amount of lead found in the Hudson's samples is well below the amount considered safe for soil in a residential area. The CDC recommends paving over or removing soil with 5,000 ppm of lead. In inner-city Detroit, tons of lead were deposited from when we used lead in gasoline and it is still there. It doesn't go anywhere. The implosion might not have added anything.