Airport security issues strong warning for anyone travelling with common item
It's hard to keep track of what you can and can't fly with these days.
Recent crackdowns have seen airlines even outlaw the use of power banks on flights due to the risk associated with portable batteries.
In the US, airport security has added one more item to the list of contraband for checked luggage: toothbrushes.
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Keep lithium-ion batteries out of your checked luggage. Getty
The USA's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) shared a Facebook post warning travellers to be careful where they pack their toothbrushes.
"Travelling with your electric toothbrush, or other items that buzz?" reads the post.
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"If they have an installed lithium battery, you should pack them in your carry-on bag. Any spare or uninstalled lithium batteries must be placed in a carry-on bag."
If your electric toothbrush has a cord or charging base, it probably has a lithium battery.
Don't pack your toothbrush in your checked luggage. Getty
Lithium-ion batteries are a fire risk due to thermal runaway. If a battery in checked luggage catches fire, it cannot be easily detected or extinguished.
There have been multiple instances of fires or smoke from power banks on airplanes, including a huge blaze on board an Air Busan flight in January 2025.
Airline regulations say spare lithium batteries, portable chargers, and other items with installed lithium batteries should be kept inside your carry-on at all times.
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Power banks are banned from being used on board. Getty Images/iStockphoto
One 9Travel writer had her checked luggage confiscated and held at the airport after she left a portable charger in there.
Stuff reported that at Auckland Airport alone, around 470 batteries are taken out of checked luggage every single day, making up to 70 per cent of all items removed by Aviation Security.
Along with electric toothbrushes, there are some items that you might not even realise contain lithium-ion batteries.
Airlines and airports have strict rules. Getty
One traveller recently had a portable hair straightener removed from her checked luggage, as it was deemed a fire risk.
TSA recently issued a warning about these grooming tools.
"Cordless curling irons that contain lithium metal or lithium ion batteries or are gas or butane fuelled are only allowed in carry-on bags," the TSA states on its website.
"A safety cover must be securely fitted over the heating element. The device must be protected from accidental activation."
Other items that contain these batteries include wireless earbuds and headphones, computer mice and keyboards, eReaders, digital cameras, e-bikes, laptops and tablets.
