Life in Balance: Amit D. Chaudhary’s Blog
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I found the Washington Post article to be a good summary on the topic of Toxic gases from Telfon (including Telfon coated cookware), Keep Your Cool When Using Teflon By Robert L. Wolke

First, a few facts. Most nonstick coatings are made of Teflon, a patented product of DuPont Co. DuPont employs a chemical called PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8) at some stage in the process of manufacturing Teflon. PFOA has long been known to cause reproductive defects and cancer in animals. The Environmental Protection Agency concluded last month that PFOA and its close chemical relatives (often referred to generically as PFOA) “present an unreasonable risk to human health” because it has become widespread in the environment. Hence, the suspicion that nonstick cookware contains PFOA and can impart it to our foods.
It doesn’t, and it can’t. The EPA’s rightful concern is with PFOA in the environment, not in our cookware.

Teflon will eventually succumb to heat. When Teflon becomes hot enough, its big (polymer) molecules break down into smaller (telomer) molecules and larger particles, at the same time giving off a multitude of gaseous fluorine compounds, many of which are known to be toxic or carcinogenic or both.
What, then, are the options for the concerned home cook? The answer? Don’t let them get too hot.

What is “too hot”? According to published research cited by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Washington, fine particulates are released from Teflon pans when heated to more than about 550 degrees. These particulates have been tied to the deaths of several species of birds, whose respiratory systems are hypersensitive. (That’s why canaries are used as warnings of mine gases.) Above about 680 degrees, gases that are toxic to humans and most likely carcinogenic are emitted — but note: no PFOA has been detected. Below those temperatures, nonstick cookware is entirely safe. There is no emission of particulates or “off-gassing” of chemicals, whether toxic or benign.

Here, then, are some simple rules for continuing to enjoy the benefits of nonstick cookware in complete safety:

- Never leave an empty nonstick pan unattended on a burner. (An empty pan gets hotter than a pan with something in it, even oil, because the oil absorbs and dissipates heat from the pan’s surface. Empty, a frying pan can reach 750 to 800 degrees after several minutes on a high burner.)
- Don’t preheat a nonstick pan before adding the butter or oil for sautéing. (On uncoated metal pan surfaces, heating the pan before adding the fat reduces the food’s tendency to stick. With a nonstick pan, that’s unnecessary.)

-Don’t sear meat in a nonstick pan or on a nonstick grill. (In my opinion, Teflon-coated grills and grill pans should be banned because grilling temperatures can reach 700 degrees.)

- Don’t broil in a Teflon-coated pan. (Broiling temperatures can easily exceed 1,000 degrees.)

My personal guidelines have been:

-Do not use teflon coated or not-stick grils.

-Cook at upto 90% of max temparature (no more than 9 on a cooking range with 1-10) for Non-stick telfon coated pans and vessels.

-Discard Non-stick utensils when the non-stick material starts peeling\falling off as it tends to do.