Following the recent arrest of 24 alleged participants in a London terror plot, national and international airports have created new, more stringent regulations increasing safety and tensions after contraband lists were expanded to include liquids, toiletries and some foods.

After the terror plot – which involved using liquid explosives to destroy airliners in-flight – was foiled, airlines added most liquids and gels to their lists of restricted items. One exception to this new rule is liquid prescriptions, which are acceptable as long as the name on the label matches the name on the ticket.

This exception applies to things like bone marrow, blood products and transplant organs as well as prescription liquids and gels and some non-prescription medications like saline solution or KY jelly, Ann Davis, public affairs manager for the Transportation Security Administration, said in an email.

If any other liquid or gel is found in a carry-on, it will be confiscated immediately and without question by airline security.

This year, 9.8 million prohibited items have been confiscated nationwide, Davis said. Approximately 12,000 items are seized each month at Logan Airport, with lighters and knives the most confiscated items, she added.

The new security measures are “in place for the foreseeable future,” Davis said, adding they may be changed if “intelligence indicates they can be loosened.”  For people flying outside of the United States, the regulations are the same. Flights entering the United States must submit a formal security plan to the TSA.

However, despite these new regulations, wait times at airports are not increasing. According to the TSA website, Logan Airport is experiencing minimal wait times – 1 to 13 minutes – during the travel period most used by students, Fridays from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Abe Scherzer, a College of Communication junior, said his most recent flight from Portland, Ore., to Boston was relatively hassle-free. He was still able to carry his laptop, magazines and CDs on board.

“After checking in, I had to deliver my bag [to the TSA checkpoint] for thorough checking and scanning,” he said.

Since all of his toiletries, including toothpaste, aspirin and cough syrup were stowed away as checked baggage, nothing was confiscated.

Scherzer is only one of the travelers that “has adapted to these changes and is coming to the airport without liquids and gels in his carry-on,” Davis said. 

College of General Studies sophomore Kep Yip said airline officials searched his carry-on luggage before he boarded his flight from Hong Kong to Boston Sept. 3 and confiscated his bottle of Neutrogena hand cream, telling him he could pick it up after reaching the United States.

“I didn’t even pick it up,” he said. “I just didn’t care … they let me bring Visine and stuff like that.”

College of Arts and Sciences freshman Alex Lin had his water bottle taken at the gate on his trip from Vancouver to Boston.

“They didn’t really ask me what was in it,” he said. “They just took it away.”

Raul Brens, a CAS senior and former United Airlines gate agent, said the security system also applies to the staff. On his way into work, he was stopped and examined when the x-ray machine showed that he was carrying something sharp.

“They found that I had a tweezer set,” he said. “They opened my bag and saw my mini scissors and told me they would have to keep them.

“I’m happy the security is so good here,” he added. “I went to Europe this summer and they let me pass razors and glass through on my carry-on.”

Staff writers Sarah Chandonnet and Jennifer Paul contributed to the reporting of this article.