AbstractIt is shown that the volumetric mass transfer coefficients, presented recently by Schmitz et al. [1] for viscous solutions of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in aqueous sodium sulphite, are considerably underestimated as a result of unjustified neglect of the oxygen back pressure during oxygen absorption. Schmitz et. al. [1] found a decrease in the exponent n in the relationship between the oxygen mass transfer coefficient, kla, and the power dissipated per unit volume of the liquid phase, e (kla ∝ en), and ascribed it to viscosity effects. However, no such decrease is observed, provided that the actual oxygen back pressure is taken into account.