8.3 Powders, Aerosols, and Gels on the Belt

8.3 Powders, Aerosols, and Gels on the Belt

Quick answer: Powder-like substances greater than 12 ounces / 350 milliliters must be placed in a separate bin for X-ray screening. They may need additional screening, and containers may need to be opened. TSA encourages placing non-essential powders greater than 12 ounces in checked bags. Baby powder uses that same language. On last-point-of-departure flights into the United States, unresolved powders over that size are prohibited from the cabin (policy cited as effective June 30, 2018). Aerosol toiletries still follow 3-1-1 in carry-on. Skin-applied bug repellent is Yes at 3.4 ounces / 100 milliliters or less; insecticides sprayed in the air or at the insect are not permitted in carry-on or checked bags. FAA — as TSA cites it — limits restricted medicinal and toiletry articles in checked baggage to 2 kg / 2 L aggregate and 0.5 kg / 500 ml per container.

This section is about what comes out onto the belt after 3-1-1 is already in play. Powders are not liquids. Aerosols are liquids-family items that also have a hazmat limit in checked bags. Gels remain 3-1-1 unless a Section 8.2 exemption applies.

Powders: 12 ounces / 350 milliliters is a bin rule

TSA's live What Can I Bring language for powder-like substances, including baby powder, is consistent:

• Carry-on: Yes
• Checked: Yes
• Powder-like substances greater than 12 oz. / 350 mL must be placed in a separate bin for X-ray screening.
• They may require additional screening and containers may need to be opened.
• For convenience, TSA encourages placing non-essential powders greater than 12 oz. in checked bags.

Learn the number as a presentation threshold, not as a secret cabin ban at every U.S. checkpoint. Over 12 ounces / 350 milliliters in carry-on means out of the bag, into its own bin, then X-ray, then possibly opening the container. Under that size, the powder may stay with other property unless an officer instructs otherwise because of clutter or an alarm.

Baby powder is not a medical-liquids exemption and not a 3-1-1 item. It is a powder-like substance. A jumbo baby-powder tub over 12 ounces / 350 milliliters follows the separate-bin rule. A travel-size baby powder under that threshold is still a powder, still screened, and still subject to additional screening if it alarms or cannot be resolved.

Security Screening already warned that officers may instruct travelers to separate foods, powders, and other clutter so the X-ray image is readable. The 12-ounce rule is the specific powder instruction on item pages; the clutter instruction is the general belt instruction. Both can apply to the same bag.

Do not confuse 12 ounces / 350 milliliters with 3.4 ounces / 100 milliliters. The first is the powder bin figure. The second is the LAG container figure. A 10-ounce protein powder is not over the powder-bin line. A 10-ounce lotion is over the 3-1-1 line and belongs in checked baggage unless an exemption applies.

International last-point-of-departure: unresolved powders stay off the cabin

TSA's screening page adds a last-point-of-departure overlay for flights into the United States. Travelers may experience more extensive screening of property and electronics. There are no changes to items allowed in carry-on and checked baggage as a general statement on that page, and there is a specific powder instruction:

For your convenience, we encourage you to place powder-like substances over 12 oz. / 350 mL in your checked bags. Powders in carry-on baggage may require secondary screening, and powders that cannot be resolved by security officials will be prohibited from the cabin of the aircraft effective June 30, 2018.

Two layers, one number:

• Domestic-style item-page rule: over 12 ounces / 350 milliliters comes out to a separate bin; additional screening; possible opening; non-essential powder encouraged into checked bags.
• LPD-into-the-United-States overlay: same size encouragement into checked bags, plus a published result if the powder cannot be resolved: it is prohibited from the cabin, cited as effective June 30, 2018.

Do not invent a date of your own. Use the date TSA prints on the screening page. Do not tell a traveler that every powder over 12 ounces is automatically seized at every U.S. airport. Do tell them that an unresolved powder on an LPD itinerary into the United States does not ride in the cabin.

Aerosols and gels on the belt

Gels are 3-1-1 items in carry-on unless they are medically necessary or infant nourishments under Section 8.2. Hair gel, shower gel, and similar toiletries go in the quart bag at 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less. On a standard lane they come out in that bag, in a bin. They are not powders and they do not use the 12-ounce powder number.

Aerosol toiletries (deodorant, hair spray, shaving cream, and similar) are the same 3-1-1 family in carry-on: less than or equal to 3.4 ounces / 100 milliliters. In checked bags they pick up FAA quantity limits that TSA reprints on item pages. TSA cites those limits rather than inventing its own hazmat math. For restricted medicinal and toiletry articles, including aerosols, in checked baggage:

• Total aggregate quantity per person cannot exceed 2 kg (70 ounces) or 2 L (68 fluid ounces).
• Capacity of each container must not exceed 0.5 kg (18 ounces) or 500 ml (17 fluid ounces).
• Permitted aerosol release devices (button/nozzle) must be protected by caps or other suitable means to prevent accidental release.

Cite FAA when you cite those numbers, because that is how TSA writes the pages.

Bug repellent is not insecticide sprayed at the insect

TSA's Bug Repellent item page is a classic discrimination item:

• Carry-on: Yes (less than or equal to 3.4 oz / 100 ml allowed)
• Checked: Yes (special instructions) — the FAA aggregate and per-container limits above
• Only bug repellents to be applied to the skin are accepted
• Insect repellents or insecticides designed to be sprayed in the air or at the insect are not permitted in either carry-on or checked baggage

Skin-applied travel-size repellent is a 3-1-1 aerosol or liquid. A room fogger, a flying-insect killer, or a spray aimed at the bug rather than the skin is not a toiletry exception. It is not permitted in either bag. That is a never-in-baggage result for that design, not a "check it and it is fine" result.

Aerosol cans on the image are often metal cylinders with a valve. That geometry is not a firearm. It is also not automatically permitted. Ask the public questions: is it a toiletry at or under 3.4 ounces in the quart bag? Is it a skin-applied repellent? Or is it an air-spray insecticide that cannot travel? Then apply 3-1-1, the FAA checked limits, or the prohibition.

Belt choreography and image discipline

Put the three families next to each other the way they appear on the belt:

Image-interpretation aptitude here is shape plus rule, not an unpublished color SOP:

• A squeeze tube or bottle of gel or lotion is a LAG. Over 3.4 ounces in carry-on is the wrong bag unless exempted.
• A powder tub or jar over 12 ounces / 350 milliliters should be sitting in its own bin, not under a sweater.
• An aerosol can is a pressurized cylinder. Toiletry versus air-spray insecticide is a label and design question with a hard public split.
• Clutter — powders, foods, cables, and clothing in one opaque pouch — is why officers separate items. Overlap hides both a threat and a permitted baby powder.

PreCheck typically leaves the 3-1-1 bag in the carry-on. It does not typically cancel a direction to pull a large powder. Unpredictable measures still apply: no individual is guaranteed expedited screening. CT currently keeps laptops in the bag; 3-1-1-in-bag is still a future goal. Powders over 12 ounces / 350 milliliters still have a published separate-bin instruction on the item pages.

Realistic scenario

A traveler's carry-on holds a quart bag of gels and lotions at 3.4 ounces each, a 14-ounce tub of baby powder, a travel-size skin-applied bug repellent, and a can of flying-insect spray. In a standard lane the 3-1-1 bag comes out into a bin. The baby powder is greater than 12 ounces / 350 milliliters, so it goes in a separate bin; it may need additional screening and the tub may be opened; TSA would have preferred a non-essential tub that size in checked bags. The skin-applied repellent is Yes in carry-on at 3.4 ounces or less. The flying-insect spray is an insecticide designed to be sprayed in the air or at the insect: it is not permitted in carry-on or checked bags. If this bag is on a last-point-of-departure flight into the United States and the powder cannot be resolved, it is prohibited from the cabin under the policy cited as effective June 30, 2018. Checked aerosol toiletries that do travel must still respect the FAA aggregate 2 kg / 2 L and 0.5 kg / 500 ml per container limits TSA reprints, with the nozzle capped. The final decision rests with the TSA officer.