Schumer: DHS Needs To Expedite Testing For Compounds Used By Terrorists

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said on Sunday the Department of Homeland Security must work faster to begin testing explosive detectors that can sense compounds used in recent terrorist attacks.

Otto Gregory, a chemical engineer at the University of Rhode Island, developed the electronic trace detection system to sense vapor from explosives, including the bomb-making material TATP.

The government has funded the project for the last eight years, and Gregory said Homeland Security plans to field test the system this fall.

But Schumer said the agency should begin testing sooner and determine if the devices can be installed in airports and train stations, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported.  

"The detectors could save countless lives. They could force ISIS to go back to the drawing board to come up with new means of their deadly evil," he said.

TATP was used by ISIS assailants in the Paris attacks on Nov. 13, and was also found in an apartment where the Brussels attackers had stayed.

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