Originally Posted by BubbaLoop
However, don't you think this is rather ridiculous? Why would "personal" aerosols be OK, but not aerosols not sprayed onto the body, in particular in checked luggage??
Well, the aerosols in question have to be flammable, too. It's a matter of hazardous material. Strictly speaking, you can have a 12oz can of spray starch, and it's going to be just fine. It doesn't go on your body, no, but it's also not flammable, either.
It should be noted, however, that regardless of flammability or not, any aerosol can is still limited to 18oz (this is, I think, for combustibility, but it also falls under the hazardous material guidelines). Most of the hazmat that comes out of checked baggage is the big 22oz cans of spray starch.
As far as why they're okay, and those not sprayed onto the body aren't? They're not "okay." They'd still be flammable, they'd still be potentially dangerous. The difference comes, however, because TSA
does want people to continue flying
Hypothetically speaking, it'd be a lot easier, and potentially safer, just to say that any flammable aerosol is prohibited in checked baggage. It'd also make checkpoint operations a lot easier if carry-ons were eliminated and everyone was limited to what they could fit into a quart-sized baggie (and I don't mean for LGA, I mean, like, period. Keys, a cellphone, maybe a twinkie~). TSA isn't going to do that — at least, not without some kind of
massive justification for doing so, such as... oh... something on the scale of 9/11³ already taking place — because if they did, the outrage from our fellow citizens would be horrendous, it'd be a total and complete PR disaster, and would probably result in either nobody flying, the TSA getting smacked by Congress, or, most likely, both.
So, yeah. Personal items are exempt from the flammability requirements of checked baggage. :P