CEDR - Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource

Operating as a public-use data repository, CEDR is a prime example of the Department's commitment to worker and community health programs. The internet presence and capabilities of CEDR facilitate the sharing of information and de-identified data collected during DOE-supported epidemiologic, environmental, and related health studies.

The CEDR website (http://cedr.lbl.gov) is visited hundreds of times each day, and about 1500 websites, including hundreds of university or governmental websites, have links to CEDR. This further leverages DOE's investment in health-related data already collected at public expense by maximizing the utilization of these data on a world-wide scale. De-identified study data are incorporated into CEDR as soon as studies are completed and researchers have provided files and documentation.

CEDR's large collection primarily pertains to occupational epidemiologic studies conducted at many nuclear weapons plants, such as Hanford, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Rocky Flats, and Savannah River. They include data from cohort and case-control design studies, many of which have individual-level radiation exposure measurements. Additionally, CEDR presents data from studies of past DOE releases of hazardous materials that entered the environment of nearby communities, as well as data from classic studies of radiation health effects, such as the radium dial painters. The sharing of these data, at no cost to the user, encourages independent scientific inquiry and diversity of analyses. A CEDR catalog can be viewed or downloaded from http://cedr.lbl.gov.

Accomplishments: The following accomplishments illustrate CEDR's achieving its goal of serving as a public-use data repository that recognizes the public's right to know about worker and community health risks and facilitates the sharing of these data collected during DOE-sponsored studies.

• CEDR staff at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ensured that CEDR's web presence, CEDRView, was online more than 99 percent of the time and responded to an average of 500 visits a day - making CEDR a prime example of "expanded electronic government."
  
• CEDR staff incorporated data file sets within 30 days of their being submitted with all proper documentation. Recent additions include the very large data file set relating to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant Worker Study.
• Incorporated data sets are promptly announced on CEDRView, making these data extremely visible to the public, academia and the occupational health community. CEDR has now delivered more than 30,000,000 data records to its authorized users since 2001.
• An online catalog of CEDR data file sets and contextual materials is maintained, and phone requests for catalogs and assistance are processed within one day.
• CEDR expanded and enhanced its holdings by implementing an interactive, geographical information system (GIS) application allowing CEDR users to display tables and maps of the concentrations of hazardous materials released to the environment during historical operations at the large production sites of Hanford, Oak Ridge, and Rocky Flats.
• CEDR data, especially the de-identified dosimetry and work history information, is of considerable interest to researchers involved in activities for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) and for the Veterans Administration.
  

Program Manager: Marsha Lawn

Related Documents & Links

CEDR brochure (2,990KB)
National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) Radiation Studies
Easy Access to Oak Ridge Off-site Dose Reconstruction Study
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Occupational Energy Research Program