Getting Started with CAFE
On this page, you'll find resources to help you learn the features and capabilities of CAFE.
- Using CAFE: This page can help you to: find fate data for chemicals using CAFE's Aquatic Fate module; find toxicity data for chemicals, oils, dispersants, or dispersant-oil mixtures using the Aquatic Effects (Toxicity) module; and graph your results as a Species Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) curve.
The following are guidance materials for the desktop version of CAFE only. (In the Web version of CAFE, the home page has links to the CAFE User Manual and a How To Use CAFE manual, which are embedded and up-to-date.)
- How to Use CAFE [PDF, 5.1 MB]: Read this overview to learn how to navigate and perform queries in CAFE.
- CAFE User's Manual [PDF, 5.7 MB]: The user manual provides guidance on the use of all the features of CAFE, including the four scenarios and two modules. It specifically emphasizes the use and application of data in the Aquatic Effects (Toxicity) module.
- CAFE Instructional Videos: These short videos show you how to navigate the CAFE interface, perform oil and dispersant queries, add your own toxicity data into CAFE, import and export the data you've added, and read and understand CAFE's short exposure risk reports.
Technical Publications
The Chemical Aquatic Fate and Effects database (CAFE), a tool that supports assessments of chemical spills in aquatic environments: This paper, published in the March 2016 issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, provides a detailed overview of CAFE.
Development of short acute exposure hazard estimates: A tool for assessing the effects of chemical spills in aquatic environments: This paper, published in the August 2013 issue of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, explains how estimates of toxic thresholds were derived from realistic spill conditions.
Questions: Contact us with your questions, comments, or suggestions for CAFE.