  CO observations have been so far the best way to trace molecular gas in
external galaxies, but at low metallicity the gas mass deduced could be largely
underestimated. At present, the kinematic information of CO data cubes are used
to estimate virial masses and trace the total mass of the molecular clouds.
Millimeter dust emission can also be used as a dense gas tracer and could
unveil H2 envelopes lacking CO. These different tracers must be compared in
different environments. This study compares virial masses to masses deduced
from millimeter emission, in two GMC samples: the local molecular clouds in our
Galaxy and their equivalents in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), one of the
nearest low metallicity dwarf galaxy. In our Galaxy, mass estimates deduced
from millimeter emission are consistent with masses deduced from gamma ray
analysis and trace the total mass of the clouds. Virial masses are
systematically larger (twice on average) than mass estimates from millimeter
dust emission. This difference decreases toward high masses and has already
been reported in previous studies. In the SMC however, molecular cloud masses
deduced from SIMBA millimeter observations are systematically higher (twice on
average for conservative values of the dust to gas ratio and dust emissivity)
than the virial masses from SEST CO observations. The observed excess can not
be accounted for by any plausible change of dust properties. Taking a general
form for the virial theorem, we show that a magnetic field strength of ~15
micro Gauss in SMC clouds could provide additional support to the clouds and
explain the difference observed. Masses of SMC molecular clouds have therefore
been underestimated so far. Magnetic pressure may contribute significantly to
their support.
