| The RFFACW02 data file set consists of six working files that were generated by the Epidemiology section at LANL for mortality studies of workers employed at the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP) in the years 1951 to 1979. |
| Data were obtained in various formats and media from RFP departments and other agencies. Demographic data were collected from two primary sources of records provided by the Personnel Department at RFP. Supplemental data were obtained from RFP health physics records. Death information was abstracted from death certificates obtained from various states. External ionizing radiation exposure and plutonium bioassay data were provided by the Health Physics Department at RFP. The external ionizing radiation data from hard-copy records through 1978 were computerized by the Epidemiology Section at LANL. |
| The six files in the RFFACW02 data file set are segregated by type of data: demographic, external ionizing radiation exposure, and plutonium-239 bioassay results. Data pertaining to an individual that appear in one or more files may be linked by the individual identification number assigned to each worker. |
| The first working file (RFFACW02_d1) contains demographic information, including race, sex, birth date, education level, employment dates, and death information, such as cause of death, date of death, and state of death, for 9,537 males and females hired between 1951 and February 1979. The file includes 1,563 females, 7,973 males, and 1 with unknown sex. Race was determined for 99% of the workers. Death information was last obtained in 1992 from NDI. Mortality data were available from the NDI from 1979 through 1990. Earlier death information was obtained from the SSA and other sources, including the Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles and active tracing. There are 1,423 deaths identified in this working file. Cause-of-death information (ICDA8) is not available for six deaths. This file also includes dosimetry data from 1981 that have been superseded by the data in the other four files in this working data file set. |
| The second working file (RFFACW02_d2) contains results of urine bioassay measurements for gross alpha, uranium, enriched uranium, depleted uranium, plutonium-239, and americium-241 through 1989. The file contains 300,261 records for contractor personnel and hires after 1979. Data include the date of the sample, type of analysis, activity of each isotope, and estimated body burdens for plutonium-239 and for americium-241. These data were not edited by LANL. |
| The third working file (RFFACW02_d3) contains external ionizing radiation exposure data. There are 62,375 records for 9,015 workers for the years 1951 through 1978. The variables include year of monitoring and annual whole-body penetrating dose (in mrem) incurred while working at RFP. These data have been edited extensively with the help of the health physics staff at RFP. |
| The fourth file (RFFACW02_d4) contains values recorded at RFP for "lifetime accumulated other" external ionizing radiation exposure received from a facility other than the RFP. There are 9,015 readings in millirem for 9,015 individuals. These data were coded from hard-copy records provided by RFP and are available for 1965 through 1978. These data have been edited with the help of the staff at RFP. |
| The fifth file (RFFACW02_d5) contains 360,388 records of badge readings for external radiation for the last quarter of 1976 through 1989. The exposure values are reported in millirem for neutron, gamma, penetrating, skin, hand, and forearm. Two background exposure variables are included as well. In addition to records for RFP workers, readings are present for contractor employees and workers hired at RFP after 1979. These data were provided in computerized form by RFP in 1990 and have not been edited. |
| The sixth file (RFFACW02_d6) contains americium and plutonium whole-body counts. The file contains 79,761 records for contract employees and workers hired after 1979. These data were never used by the LANL Epidemiology Section in any analyses, and no documentation exists at LANL on the units or meaning of data in this file. |
