The US FDA considers sunscreens (at least real ones) to be drugs, and thus, logically, exempt from the 100mL limit.

FDA's PDF slide show for dummies (see page 4)

Sunscreens, antiperspirants, dandruff shampoos, and fluoride toothpastes are all medicines as defined by the US Federal government. It is not within the TSA's purview to declare that such items are not medicines.

I once had a dangerous paste confiscated from my carry-on. They took my mascara.

I had no problem getting sunscreen (over 3 oz) thorugh a checkpoint once, the TSO even saw it. Had they desired to take it, the back mentioned all the drug facts, etc, so I was prepared to fight... I mean, ask, that I be allowed to keep it.

I was seriously expecting some "You're a wise..." um... "donkey." replies to this. How disappointing.

I have a gel antiperspirant labeled 4oz (of course that's weight; hint: weight is generally used to quantify solids), a larger bottle of Listerine, etc. going into my bag. They all have the requisite "Drug Facts" label.

Instead of asking the TSO if he/she is licensed to practice medicine, I can ask if he/she is licensed to regulate medicines.

It's the size of the container, not the contents. At least, that's the way the rule is written.

Which, frankly, is fine with me. Getting through the checkpoint is hard enough without having a debate with a screener about whether or not my 5.5oz toothpaste tube is more than 62% full (since 5.5 * 62% = 3.4oz).

Yes, that means that perfectly reasonable amounts of LGAs can't be brought aboard in carry-on luggage. But if you're going to have a rule limiting LGAs, this rule is at least easy to execute. All everyone has to do is read the label.

Note: I'm not arguing that the reason for excluding LGAs is valid. I'm just saying that if you're gonna restrict it, keeping the rule simple is a good thing.

The Periodic Table only charts elements, not compounds, nor does it detail phase changes (the temperatures/pressures at which elements or compounds change from solid to liquid, liquid to gas, or sublime).

Water, H2O, is a compound of two elements, hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). At temperatures common to most checkpoints, hydrogen would be a gas, and oxygen would be a gas�

Ooooh, wait, I get it, I get it!!!

One bottle of water, composed of two gases, comin' through

I have heard the TSA state if it pours or smears it is a liquid. That means just about anything can be considered a liquid. Also it is the container not the liquid in side that determines the size.

The one I loved was a lady trying to convince TSA that perfume was not a liquid, just because it cost her a couple hundred bucks :-)

This brings up a interesting question. If my bottle is designated in oz (weight) as opposed to ozl (volume), what determines if its allowed?

If it's more than 3.4 (or 3.0, at some checkpoints) it's not allowed. Little details like weight vs volume are too much for them.

If you'd like to explain to TSA how idiotic this is, you'll have to wait your turn. Read more here.

Thanks for the insight. I'm actually going to present this to my management. Great debate topic, by the way.

What happens when I try to bring a bottle of frozen water past the checkpoint? It isn't a liquid at that point.

DD

From the tsa.gov website:
Frozen gels/liquids are permitted if required to cool medical and infant/child exemptions. Frozen gels/liquids for any other purpose are not permitted.

The TSA website clearly states, "3.4 ounce bottle or less (by volume)" and toothpaste is not marked by volume but weight (grams). I think the next time I get this Cr-p from TSA I am going to ask them to pull out their measuring cup or give me their name and badge number.

Maybe ignorance really is bliss?

Yeah, I hear you. But Blogger Bob over at Propaganda Village (see link in my previous post) as much as said it was too much to expect their little brains to deal with all those slide-tables and log-rules to calculate the volume of toothpaste when it's labelled in weight. So they've just decided to ignore established definitions and pretend that oz (fluid) = oz (weight) = oz (merry old land of).

If you got metric toothpaste marked in grams not ounces, you should be okay as they probably won't know what grams are. I don't want to discourage you from challenging them, but I predict you'll get a typical "just following rules" reply. Or D.Y.W.T.F.T.

Always remember that we're dealing with an organization that thinks "frozen liquid" is a state of matter.

Sorry, a little late to this party, but are you actually trying to imply that gasses are not permitted? So only solids carried in a perfect vacuum are permissible through the check-point? Or do you also consider a vacuum a gas? Remember this is physics, and as the TSA proves daily, it's not a friendly place for amateurs.

You're so right. They practiced this garbage science by embarking on the delusion that explosives only exist in a single state of matter, and continue to pronounce to anyone who'll listen (fewer and fewer listen all the time) that all liquids (with exceptions to the nth degree, each exclusion disproving TDA's starting premise) could be explosives and that on-board explosives are halted by confiscating all liquids >3.4 "oz." at the check-point.

Meanwhile the general is horribly delayed as this dumbed down to <zero version of physics and chemistry is foisted on the disbelieving.