Here Are the New Items TSA Banned in Checked Bags

The Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration just expanded their hazardous items list.

Wim De Gent

Published: 8/23/2025, 8:58:46 PM EDT

Here Are the New Items TSA Banned in Checked Bags — A TSA agent waits for passengers to use the TSA PreCheck lane being implemented by the Transportation Security Administration at Miami International Airport, on Oct. 4, 2011. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The “shoes off” policy at airport security checkpoints may have ended last month but that doesn’t mean airport security is letting go of the reigns. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just expanded their hazardous items list.

By this point, most everyone knows what to expect at airport security checkpoints: jackets off, belts off, water bottles emptied, laptops out of the bag ... and hoping you didn’t pack anything that’s not allowed onboard—lest you have it confiscated.

So if you don’t want to unexpectedly part with a certain type of beauty product that your rely on, know that the TSA has added cordless curling irons or flatirons to their hazardous materials list over safety concerns.

Cordless curling irons are fueled by small, pressurized gas cartridges. The gas flows to a tiny burner or catalytic converter where it is ignited, which powers the heating element needed for styling hair.

Most cordless curling irons use butane gas, though some models may also use isobutane or a butane-propane mix, depending on the manufacturer and design—either way, the fire hazard remains.

So don’t bring your cordless curling irons in your checked luggage: the TSA will confiscate them when they spot them.

However, you are allowed to carry one curling iron (including a fitted gas cartridge) in carry-on baggage—though one only.

Do check the iron’s safety cover firsthand, as the TSA requires that the cover must be “securely fitted” over the heating element to protect it from accidental activation.

It is also no longer permissible to bring additional gas refill cartridges on board, either in carry-on or in checked luggage.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as the TSA has long banned compressed gasses from both checked and carry-on baggage, be it flammable gasses, refrigerant gases, or pressurized scuba tanks.

Regular corded hair tools remain fine to take with you on board, whether in your suitcase or your carry-on, as long as they require being plugged into an electric outlet to operate.

New Lithium Battery Rules

Earlier this year, the TSA has also tightened up their rules for lithium batteries.

Spare lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries, including power banks and cell phone battery charging cases, are no longer permitted in checked luggage. They must be carried with the passenger in carry-on baggage only, and the battery terminals must be protected from a short circuit.

That includes spare batteries for cameras, cell phones, laptop computers, tablets, watches, calculators, etc.