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Philly researchers make fish milkshakes — for science.

by Will Dean

Michael T. Regan SCHOOL OF THOUGHT: "It's a bit like that bass-o-matic skit," says Rich Horwitz of testing fish for contaminants.

In a tranquil stream, where the fish meander and a fox peers on curiously, a couple of scientists wade carefully in the middle. With big, square, gray backpacks strapped to their backs, they look like a pair of Ghostbusters. But these scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences aren't hunting ghosts; their targets are slimy but tangible. They immerse electrified prongs in the water and, ZAP!, shoot a current into the waterway.

They're studying contaminant levels in fish. But fish don't tend to volunteer for these tests.

To corral their subjects, they shock the fish with electricity, collect them and then pop them in a blender. They test the resulting fish mush for harmful chemicals.

"It's kinda like that bass-o-matic skit from SNL a long time ago," says Rich Horwitz, head of the Fisheries Section of the Patrick Center for Environmental Research at the Academy, who looks every bit the geeky scientist with his sweater vest, white beard and glasses. There's a video of the entire process in the atrium of the museum, for those who want to see how surprisingly quickly a fish can be reduced to a paste.

The scientists have projects in New Jersey and Connecticut in conjunction with the Academy's chemistry department. Much of their testing is for DDT, PCBs and mercury.

In Jersey, the data they collect is used to advise government-created consumption advisories for how many fish of certain kinds from certain areas it's safe to eat. It also helps them figure why some areas have more contaminants in their fish and how the fish ingest them. Mercury, which can cause kidney damage, nerve damage and mental problems in humans, has some obvious industrial sources, but the environment it enters can also affect how much of the heavy metal gets into fish — and, through ingestion, us.

"In some of our first work it became pretty clear that Pine Barrens fish had higher levels of mercury than a lot of other fish," says Horwitz. "Same species, same size, [but they] had higher levels of mercury than elsewhere."

Mercury itself is not easily absorbed by fish, but bacteria can convert it into methyl mercury, a molecule which has a methyl-group (CH3) added on, making it an organic compound, a form that is easily digested and stored by organisms. Factors like water acidity and dissolved organic material can aid this conversion.

"The Pine Barrens having lots of wetlands, lots of tannic [acidic] water, high levels of dissolved organic carbon and that's one of the types of conditions where methylation can occur," says Horwitz. "Once you [have] methylation, [it can] get picked up by fish."

Through their work they hope people will be better informed about the safety of their waterways and the fish in them. "I believe if you look in the New Jersey rags for consumption advisories, there are different [numbers] for the Pine Barrens," says Horwitz.

The Academy gets jobs like this, and another for General Electric in Connecticut, partly because behind all the dioramas and dinosaur bones of the public museum, it has scientists working on things like biogeochemistry, systemics and evolution, and molecular systematics all under one roof. That makes it easier to share skills and ideas than at other research venues.

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Horwitz recalls being congratulated by a fellow scientist after a presentation about a cross-discipline project. "He said, 'Wow, you guys were able to work with all these different disciplines — I'm in a university and if I want someone in this discipline I have to walk to a building half a mile away and then convince him or her to work with me.'"

One large jar in the fisheries lab contains eel-like fish with piranha faces, an invasive species the Academy was called to South Philly to study.

"Another area of work we do is rare species, single-species study and some of that is invasive, like the snakehead here," says Horwitz, gesturing to the jar packed with dead-but-vicious-looking fish that had been let loose to propagate in FDR Park. Along with eating other fish, the aggressive species can walk on land for short distances, allowing it to spread more quickly.

"That, we actually haven't been funded for," he says. "But it's kind of our backyard. We've been looking, collecting, getting a sense of abundance and now that they're established, getting a sense of what they're doing to other fish in the lakes."

Along with pro bono work like that, scientists like Horwitz have their own research, usually funded by grants, but it's all in service to a larger goal.

"A part of it is, and a lot of scientists feel this, especially when they get into a big field, [a feeling of] 'I'm not alone, and what I do is only a part of [a bigger purpose],'" says Horwitz. "So I have a role and I hope my role is knowledge that can help set good policy and help to preserve the environment."

(editorial@citypaper.net)