Eigencolloid formation occurs readily in groundwater upon storage of radioactive waste. Colloid-facilitated transport is a mechanism responsible for the mobilisation of radionuclides into the wider environment, causing radioactive contamination. This is a public health concern, since elevated radioactivity in the environment is mutagenic and can lead to cancer.
Eigencolloids have been implicated in the long-range transport of plutonium on the Nevada Test Site.