Toxic Fumes

• If a non-stick pan is heated to too high of a temperature (more than 450 degrees), it will give off toxic fumes. To prevent this, never heat an empty pan and avoid lightweight pans.
  
  

Chipped Coatings

• If your non-stick skillet or saucepan becomes chipped or scratched, then it is time to discard it and get a new one. Chipped non-stick pans lose their non-stick properties. There is also the risk that you will ingest some of the coating from a chipped or scratched pan.
  
  

Cast Iron and Thermal Shock

• Cast iron may seem indestructible, but there is something that will cause your cast iron skillet to shatter: putting cold water in it while it is hot. To protect your cast iron cookware and yourself, never put a hot pan in cold water.
  
  

Exploding Glass

• In October 2009, an email was circulated claiming that a Pyrex roasting pan exploded in an oven. The email caused a bit of panic, and was found by snopes.com to be a mix of true and false. Pyrex glass can potentially shatter when exposed to rapid temperature changes. As with cast iron, do not put cold water in a hot Pyrex dish or pan.
  
  

Aluminum Concerns

• Some people are concerned that cooking with aluminum utensils will cause them to ingest the metal and lead to diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, the Food and Drug Administration ruled that there is no link between cooking with aluminum cookware and Alzheimer's.