Yes, replace it! I would look for pots/pans with ceramic coating instead of Teflon. They are much easier to deal with; endures steel utensils and more heat. My personal favorite is Scanpan's CTX line. Dreamy.

I scratched mine years ago and still use them. I just tell my kids those black flakes are pepper. Added bonus: I never need to buy halloween costumes for my kids.

On a related note, does anyone have ideas for recycling or re-purposing old Teflon pans? I have a large saute pan that is scratched, but maybe it could find a new home where it won't be exposed to food?

This would be a question for the Public Health department, not a blog. But if you want an unscientific opinion, many people say they're dangerous and to be honest we don't miss ours at all. I use a "sticky" stainless steel frying pan and I want to get cast iron. Not that stainless is necessarily safer, but I don't think you're supposed to use that stuff when it's scratched.

@Elise890 call your local recycling facility or Whole Foods. They might have ideas.

Yes.

Teflon is incredibly inert and it's unlikely that any ingested flakes would be absorbed into the body. It cannot be dissolved by boiling acid, acetone, sodium hydroxide, or pure alcohol. It's so inert that one of the early uses for it was to line pipes in the Manhattan Project because it was the only thing that was really resistant to the uranium hexafluoride.

I am much more concerned about the exposed aluminum in the scratched pans because there are possible links to health problems and the aluminum is dissolved by acidic foods.

A search of the US National Library of Medicine found 12 articles on adverse effects of Teflon since 1966. Five were about birds: cage birds are _very_ sensitive to Teflon off-gasses. If you have a parakeet, don't over-heat Teflon! Three of them were ... over-anxious ... reports from sources such as Time Magazine. Two of them were about one case of a pan that burned for four hours while a 30-year-old man slept in the same room; he was sick for two days. The other articles were also about burned pans, mostly back in the 1970's. The technical name for the problem is "polymer fume fever." The major cause of PFF is breathing contaminated hair spray or cigarette smoke - not Teflon.

So - Do not let any Teflon pan burn, or even get above 550degF - the temperature at which onions turn to black crispy bits. In general, even scratched Teflon is not a problem.

Polytetrafluoroethylene
Polymer fume fever

@ Katlian, I agree. Anyway, I think they use Teflon to coat catheters too and there have been studies about using it on stents.

M_J_S is also right about Teflon fumes killing birds. I think the recommended temperature to use it is 200C or 392F (at which point Teflon starts breaking down). By the way, your pan should even be that hot since many oils start breaking down at around this temperature. (Some lower, like butter at 121-149C, and some higher, like refined sunflower oil at 227C)

I was under the impression that it was discovered that Teflon was toxic? That's why you don't see it as much anymore (as in, they're phasing it out). I recently bought a ceramic pan...love it. I use hardly any oil, get a great crust and it cleans out super easy. When I really want to brown something (stew or braise) I'll get out my grandma's old heavy-bottomed stainless pan. Nothing works better. I do have a nice deep (also heavy-bottomed) stock pot if I'm making a big batch of stew or jambalya. Other than cast iron there isn't much better than stainless for that. In my experience, so far, at least.

98% of the pans at goodwill are crappy scratched Teflon for good reason.

Get rid of it. Buy cast iron, stainless, or enamel.

Oh dear, all my nonstick pans are scratched as my boyfriend uses metal utensils on them and scrubs them with a hard bristle brush.

Yeah, best to get rid of it. Plus, the non-covered bits are going to be extremely prone to rust, depending on what the base metal is.

I need to get around to chucking these...

@ IndyCote, I believe any toxicity associated with Teflon not being as available on the market has to do with manufacturing processes, not the product itself. (I think I saw a segment on America's Test Kitchen to that effect, but I don't have time to verify right now)

I'd toss them! Before rushing out to buy a new $50 non-stick pan, I'd give cast iron a try. I haven't yet mastered making eggs on one yet but my grandmother did it so I know it can be done!

Definitely chuck it out and go the Cast Iron, you can season it and it will better than any non stick pan. I am currently waiting to take delivery of one for my birthday, I figured seeing as everyone is coveting my Grandma's cast iron pan I'd better get my own. So here is a lesson on how to season it and never ever wash it in soapy water :D http://www.burgermary.com/2012/04/how-to-season-cast-iron-like-a-boss/

Why is stainless steel not that safe? wahhhhh.I thought I 'was doing good'...throw that old ratty pan out..by the way..if you have a Homegoods or TJMaxx near you, they have great deals on good stainless if you are 'bargain hunting'..I do have a good old cast iron, but the stainless are easier for me to clean..quickly..

Fine Cooking had a great article about the science of nonstick cooking last month: http://www.finecooking.com/articles/the-science-of-nonstick-cookware.aspx

I was once told by a guy at a Sur la Table type place that you can eat Teflon all day long, it's the adhesive used to adhere the Teflon to the pan that is potentially toxic.

cast iron is amazing, and you can get it really cheap. it doesn't have to be brand name cast iron (though the enameled pots are FANTASTIC) - you can just pick up a plain iron skillet from most hardware stores.
bonus points for getting one with a cast iron handle as well (i.e. not wood or plastic) as you can then make the best omelettes in the entire world (finish them under the grill covered in cheese).

I use stainless steel and enamel cast iron (Le Creuset) and they are great. I'd toss those scratched up pans.... after all, if they're scratched the non-stick function is going to be lost.