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Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR)

The Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) is the Department of Energy's (DOE) electronic database comprised of health studies of DOE contract workers and environmental studies of areas surrounding DOE facilities. DOE recognizes the benefits of data sharing and supports the public's right to know about worker and community health risks. CEDR provides independent researchers and the public with access to de-identified data collected since the Department's early production years. Current CEDR holdings include more than 76 studies of over 1 million workers at 31 DOE sites. Access to these data is at no cost to the user.

Most of CEDR's holdings are derived from epidemiologic studies of DOE workers at many large nuclear weapons plants, such as Hanford, Los Alamos, the Oak Ridge reservation, Savannah River Site, and Rocky Flats. These studies primarily use death certificate information to identify excess deaths and patterns of disease among workers to determine what factors contribute to the risk of developing cancer and other illnesses. In addition, many of these studies have radiation exposure measurements on individual workers. CEDR is supported by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Now a mature system in routine operational use, CEDR's modern internet-based systems respond to thousands of requests to its web server daily. With about 1,500 Internet sites pointing to CEDR's web site, CEDR is a national user facility, with a large audience for data that are not available elsewhere.

Take a tour of the CEDR program and web site on

Features:

Data File Sets:

Analytic Data File Sets = 261 data files (60 studies)

Analytic data files contain the data that a researcher directly used in conducting the analyses and result in reported findings or publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Working Data File Sets = 118 data files

Working data files are files that contain the raw or unedited data from which a researcher selected variables to form an initial analytic data file set. The data in the working data files may contain errors; as such, it is recommended that they be analyzed and results interpreted with caution.

Former Worker Medical Screening Program = 2 data files

The DOE Former Worker Medical Screening Program (FWP) supports the Office of Health and Safety's mission and strategic response by funding external teams of health experts to independently offer medical screening, at no cost, to former workers who may be at significant risk for occupational diseases. Workers eligible for this program include all former DOE Federal, contractor, and subcontractor employees from all DOE sites. The data in these files contain de-identified worker health information.

Naval Shipyard = 7 data files (5 studies)

CEDR has a vast collection of Naval shipyard data, including the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which was created in 1800 to build warships. Around the time of World War I, Naval shipyards began building submarines. Since World War II, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has designed and constructed nuclear powered submarines for the Navy.

Bibliographic Collections:

CEDR's library of information, reports, journal articles, and data includes more than 1,250 citations. CEDR's various types of bibliographic searches allow the user to select citations or publications associated with the studies found in the CEDR library.

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