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NYPD give details of July 7 bombs

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The bombers responsible for the July 7 blasts in London used commonly available products to make their explosives, New York police told security officials in a briefing Wednesday.

According to the New York Police Department, investigators in London believe the bombers used a peroxide-based explosive called HMDT, or hexamethylene triperoxide, which can be made with such common items as hydrogen peroxide, which is used to bleach hair; citric acid, a food preservative; and heating tablets used by the military for cooking.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told private security officials that while it was initially thought the bombers used high-end military explosives, it was "more like these terrorists went to a hardware store or some beauty supply store."

Through a law enforcement source, CNN confirmed the information was disclosed during the meeting between NYPD officials and security heads from an array of organizations, including financial institutions, hotels and schools.

The briefing was part of an effort to increase terrorism vigilance in New York.

In London, Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter of the British Transport Police said the release of the information was "unhelpful" to the ongoing investigation in Britain.

Trotter said Thursday that British authorities only release information deemed necessary "to protect the public."

The U.S. briefing was based partly on information learned by NYPD detectives dispatched to London after the bombings to monitor the investigation, the law enforcement source said.

Because HMDT degrades at room temperature, the bombers preserved it in a commercial freezer that had been installed in a "flophouse" in Leeds, England, Michael Sheehan, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, told security officials at the meeting.

He said the presence of a refrigerator in such an incongruous setting should have been "an indicator for a problem."

British investigators also believe the bombs were transported in coolers carried by two cars to the outskirts of London, according to the NYPD, and the bombs were detonated by using alarms on cell phones that were set to go off at 8:50 a.m. BST (0750 GMT).

Similar explosive compounds were used in four attempted transport bombings in London on July 21, although the detonators used in the second set of attacks were activated by hand, rather than timed, according to the NYPD. None of those bombs exploded.

Kelly warned the security personnel at Wednesday's meeting that the materials and methods used in the London attacks could easily be adapted for use in New York.

Sheehan told them that the types of organizations with which the bombers were believed to have affiliated "are very much present in New York City."

"That's something we're studying very, very carefully," Sheehan told attendees. "This could happen here."

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the NYPD had clearance from British authorities to present the information during the briefing.

In London, Scotland Yard declined comment. However, one British police source told CNN he considered it "reckless" for another police force, in another country, to give out "privileged" information on the investigation.

A law enforcement source also told CNN that the NYPD's counterterrorism and counterintelligence departments were looking into whether a sweatshirt worn by one of the suspects in the July 21 attempted bombings in London might have been a "symbolic gesture."

A surveillance photograph released by British police showed Ramzi Mohammed wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words "New York" on the morning of the incidents.

CNN's Shannon Troetel, Maureen Madden and Roger Clark contributed to this report.

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